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YouTube’s algorithm placed a descriptive link of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks directly under a live stream video of the Notre Dame Cathedral fire. The video was a live stream of the fire on France 24’s YouTube page.
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The link below the video, which directed to an Encyclopedia Britannica entry on the Sept. 11 attacks, was eventually removed.
YouTube, which is run by Google, started placing links to Wikipedia and encyclopedia entries under news videos last year in an effort to curb fake news from spreading on the site.
It appears YouTube’s algorithm interpreted the video as footage of the Sept. 11 attacks on the World Trade Center towers.
The cause of the fire is still unknown, according to French police. Local media have reported the fire is being treated as an accident.
A YouTube spokesperson said in an emailed statement that the link below the video stream of the Notre Dame fire was a mistake.
“These panels are triggered algorithmically and we sometimes make the wrong call. We are disabling these panels for live streams related to the fire,” the spokesperson said.