US presidential election falsehoods take off on YouTube as it looks the other way

In June 2023, YouTube decided to stop fighting the most persistent strain of election misinformation in the US: the falsehood that President Joe Biden stole the 2020 election from Donald J. Trump.

Within months, the largest video platform became a home for election conspiracy theories, half-truths and lies. They in turn became a source of revenue for YouTube, which announced growing quarterly ad sales on Tuesday.