Comelec teaming up with YouTube for verification of candidates’ channels

 (AFP)

MANILA, Philippines — The Commission on Elections (Comelec) will work with YouTube to verify the official channels of candidates in the video sharing platform.

“We will be working with YouTube to add a verified badge for official candidates that submit their official YouTube channel to Comelec,” said Comelec spokesperson James Jimenez on Twitter Saturday night.

Jimenez said the candidates do not need to have at least 100,000 subscribers to get the badge.

Comelec spokesperson James Jimenez (INQUIRER.net file photo / RYAN LEAGOGO)

Owners of YouTube channels are usually required to reach 100,000 subscribers to be eligible to apply for verification.

According to YouTube Help Center, the platform verifies channels that are authentic, which means they “represent the real creator, brand or entity it claims to be,” and are complete, meaning the channel must be public and have a channel banner, description, profile picture, and content and be active on YouTube.

“Sometimes, YouTube may also proactively verify channels with fewer than 100,000 subscribers that are well-known outside of YouTube,” a post from Youtube Help read.

Before this announcement, the Comelec earlier said that only websites, blogs, and social media pages registered by candidates and political parties may run campaign advertisements for the 2022 elections.

The eletion body also requires that they must disclose that these are paid ads and identify who paid for them.

gsg