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  YouTube intends to ramp up its efforts to combat conspiracy mongers, perhaps in response to the rash of conspiracy videos that trended following the school shooting in Parkland, Florida, last month. Among other things, YouTube will supply links to relevant Wikipedia pages and other credible websites to provide viewers with a counter narrative, according to CEO Susan Wojcicki, who revealed the plans earlier this week during a panel discussion at SXSW. YouTube plans to roll out additional features pointing to third-party information sources over the next few months. The Wikimedia Foundation welcomed the move, but noted that it had not entered a formal partnership with YouTube and had not received any advance notice of the plan. "We are always happy to see people, companies and organizations recognize Wikipedia's value as a repository of free knowledge," said Samantha Lien, spokesperson for the Wikimedia Foundation. Wikipedia is freely licensed f...

  YouTube this week announced that it will ban videos related to the sale or assembly of firearms, as well as certain gun accessories including bump stocks. The new rules will take effect in April. YouTube is a division of Alphabet-owned Google. Under the new rules, all videos that show how to construct or even repair a firearm are banned -- even those from long-established YouTube channels. The new policy also bans videos that show how to reload ammunition. Videos that provide information on how to make modifications that involve anything simulating automatic fire are banned, as are those showing how to use high capacity magazines. YouTube banned gun videos that showed users how to install a bump stock on rifles following the mass shooting last fall in Las Vegas. YouTube already had a policy in place that banned videos involving the sale of firearms, but critics complained the rules were loosely enforced. YouTube has promised to monitor and remove all offending...