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Google is partnering with YouTube to teach kids about fake news
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Google is partnering with YouTube channels to help teach children about the dangers of fake news, according to Polygon. - photo by Herb Scribner
Google is partnering with YouTube channels to help teach children about the dangers of fake news, according to Polygon.

The partnership includes accounts like asapSCIENCE, which has won awards for its science-based videos, and Smarter Every Day, which has 5.5 million subscribers, a YouTube representative told Polygon.

The company plans to release more information about these partnerships soon.

The goal is to help teach kids how to discern what is fact and what is fiction when theyre reading news articles or watching YouTube videos, according to Polygon.

Google announced a $300 million investment into the Google News Initiative, which will work to help news publishers develop a stronger relationship with Google, according to Nieman Labs.

Google said it will also commit $10 million to a global media literacy initiative.

In fact, Google.org will invest $3 million into MediaWise, a global partnership between the Poynter Institute, Stanford University Education Group and the Local Media Association to teach media literacy through classroom education with the help of, you guessed it, YouTube accounts.

Google's project comes as YouTube faces tremendous criticism for its YouTube Kids app. A Business Insider report found that YouTube Kids suggested videos that contain conspiracy theories, like the Earth being flat and that the planet is ruled by reptile-human hybrids.

YouTube later removed 25 videos after Business Insider told the company about its report, according to the Deseret News.

YouTube faced similar criticism last year when parents noticed that seemingly harmless cartoon videos on the YouTube Kids app contained violent images.

The YouTube Kids app is home to a wide variety of content that includes enriching and entertaining videos for families, YouTube said in a statement, according to Mashable. This content is screened using human trained systems. That being said, no system is perfect and sometimes we miss the mark. When we do, we take immediate action to block the videos or, as necessary, channels from appearing in the app. We will continue to work to improve the YouTube Kids app experience.