Youtube – Breaking News & Latest Updates 2026
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YouTube

YouTube launched in 2005 as a video sharing platform, and was acquired by Google (now Alphabet) in 2006. It has built an entire community of creators that run channels dedicated to topics like gaming, tech reviews, and beauty. It also houses news videos and entertainment such as music videos, movie trailers, and clips from late-night TV shows.

YouTube’s rapid growth has not been without problems. YouTubers typically make money from ads that run in front of their videos, but if they break the platform’s rules, their channels and videos can be demonetized. Executives and moderators have worked to combat harassment, misinformation, terrorist propaganda, hate content, and other abuse.

The Verge runs two YouTube channels, The Verge and Verge Science.

Emma Roth
Emma Roth
NYT report reveals how Meta, Snapchat, TikTok, and YouTube grabbed kids’ attention in school.

Internal documents, which were disclosed as part of a wave of child safety lawsuits filed by school districts across the US, showed:

Snapchat sent phone alerts to adolescents during school hours, urging them to share what was going on in their classrooms.

Meta paid “teen ambassadors” to promote Instagram and hand out swag to their friends at school.

TikTok gave the National PTA millions of dollars, in part to throw school events about online safety and provide favorable comments to journalists.

Backrooms is at the forefront of horror’s YouTube wave

Filmmakers like Kane Parsons are getting their start on YouTube, before moving to bigger productions.

Charles Pulliam-Moore
Richard Lawler
Richard Lawler
CBS pulls back on Only in Monroe takedown notices.

Variety reports on why early uploads of Stephen Colbert’s post-The Late Show endeavor were pulled, citing copyright complaints from Paramount/CBS. A statement from the company says it was because it financed and produced the episode with Colbert, which was eventually published on his YouTube channel, but it has now “decided to waive further enforcement of this standard industry practice until additional review.”

Charles Pulliam-Moore
Charles Pulliam-Moore
Iron Lung is coming home to YouTube.

Following its surprisingly successful theatrical run, Markiplier’s Iron Lung adaptation is set to make its YouTube streaming debut on May 31st.

Joanna Stern is not a robot, but she lived with them
Play

The journalist and author of I Am Not a Robot on her year living with AI and starting a new media company.

Nilay Patel
Christian content creators are outsourcing AI slop to gig workers on Fiverr

Demand for AI-generated Bible content is high.

Charles Pulliam-Moore
Emma Roth
Emma Roth
YouTube’s picture-in-picture mode is rolling out to all users globally.

Users in the US have been able to shrink YouTube videos while they access other apps for some time now, but now Google is expanding the feature to more regions in the coming months. It’s only available for long-form, non-music content on Android and iOS.

Emma Roth
Emma Roth
YouTube removes Nvidia’s own DLSS 5 trailer after a takedown request from an Italian TV channel.

The channel, La7, reportedly used the DLSS 5 footage in a segment about the upscaling tech. It seemingly issued takedown requests for videos using the same clips, including the original trailer from Nvidia and videos from creators covering DLSS 5’s launch.

Screenshot: The Verge
A jury says Meta and Google hurt a kid. What now?
Play

Why nuclear options like age limits and repealing Section 230 won’t make social media safer.

Nilay Patel
Terrence O'Brien
Terrence O'Brien
YouTube CEO refuses to talk about content moderation.

In an interview with the New York Times, Neal Mohan was asked about the platform’s responsibility for policing lies, conspiracy theories, and hate speech, but avoided addressing the questions in any substantive way. He wouldn’t even say whether it was wrong to suspend Trump following the January 6th attack on the Capitol.

Each one of the channels on our platform, the New York Times channel, the Interview channel, you have the editorial standards that you live by and they are certainly different across the various channels. And our job is to have a set of rules and guidelines. Every channel will draw a different line in terms of what they think is appropriate.

Lauren Feiner
Lauren Feiner
A juror’s vacation could complicate deliberations in the LA social media addiction trial.

There could be a sticky situation if jurors don’t reach a verdict today on day nine of deliberations, independent journalist Meghann Cuniff reports. One juror is set to leave on a prepaid vacation tomorrow, and the judge hasn’t yet said what would happen if they go before a verdict.

Terrence O'Brien
Terrence O'Brien
Mister Rogers is getting his own YouTube channel.

Until now, Mister Rogers Neighborhood has only been available on YouTube in a limited capacity via the PBS Kids account and sketchy uploads. But now it will have an official home on YouTube thanks to a partnership between Fred Rogers Productions and Little Dot Studios, which has, let’s say, diverse interests.

Emma Roth
Emma Roth
YouTube thumbnails just got an upgrade.

Creators can now upload video thumbnails up to 50MB instead of just 2MB, according to YouTube CEO Neal Mohan. Bring on the hi-res YouTube Face.

What it was like to watch grieving parents stare down Mark Zuckerberg in court

Parent advocates were determined to make their presence known to Meta’s CEO.

Lauren Feiner
David Pierce
David Pierce
“You’re sitting at home and just taking pictures of yourself, pulling various faces.”

One of my favorite things to do on social media is to just imagine the people setting up the camera right before the video starts — because as soon as you remember they set up a camera, the whole viewing experience changes. This fun Ringer story about the rise of YouTube Face (trust me, you know the face) pulls back a lot of that artifice and dives into some of the strange workings of the internet’s biggest video platform.

Jess Weatherbed
Jess Weatherbed
YouTube’s algorithm loves feeding AI slop to kids.

After watching popular children’s channels like CoComelon, Bluey, or Ms. Rachel, The New York Times found that more than 40 percent of Shorts recommended by the platform “appeared to contain AI-generated visuals.” YouTube doesn’t require animated AI videos for children to be labeled, placing all moderation burdens on parents instead.

Hank Green will gladly take billionaire money for education videos
Play

The former Complexly owner lets loose on YouTube, AI, and why he turned his educational company into a nonprofit.

Nilay Patel
Jay Peters
Jay Peters
YouTube’s AI chatbot, now on TV.

YouTube is starting to test its conversational AI tool with a “small group of users” on smart TVs, gaming consoles, and streaming devices. The tool, first introduced in 2023, lets you ask questions about the videos you’re watching.