Paris (AFP)

"A user to make his choice": YouTube defends the ability of its recommendation algorithm to offer information "as complete as possible", while putting in place features to limit the appearance of misinformation videos.

New buttons, tested in the United States and deployed gradually in France and around the world, will allow the user to remove from his list of "recommended videos" the channels he does not want to watch.

"This will allow users to rectify the shooting" concerning the customization performed by the algorithm, said Justine Ryst, Director of Content at Youtube France, questioned Thursday by AFP on the subject during the Youtube Festival in Paris.

Another feature will be to know why a video has been recommended.

Youtube, property of Google, does not communicate any number on the part that the videos viewed from the recommendations represent compared to those sought directly by the users.

It is also impossible to know the role played by the different measures (time spent on the video, session time, number of views or + likes +) in the recommendation engine. "If we give the keys of the algorithm today to a creator, he will focus on the elements taken into account and he will forget the essence of his video that is creativity," says Justine Ryst.

Investigations of "Youtubeurs" French have highlighted in recent days the factual errors or conspiracy of other popular channels on the platform.

"The community itself is self-regulating, reacting and working to bring to light issues that need more explanation, it's not our role to do that," said Justine Ryst, who was asked about the topic.

"We, we consider that we have very clear rules of use and very strict.As soon as a user breaks them, its content is blocked," she added. "It is up to the user to make his choice" among the multiple opinions offered by the algorithm.

This one will "try to give you a maximum of information on a topic which interests you", promises Youtube.

"Disinformation poses a real problem, especially on medical topics," acknowledged Tuesday the platform in a statement. She announced that she would give Internet users access to more serious sources, so that they themselves verify the veracity of the information shown to them.

Some 10,000 people at Google are working on topics related to moderation.

? 2019 AFP