London, Sep 24 (IANS): Google-owned YouTube on Thursday said it would expand its fact-checking feature to Europe in a bid to fight misinformation related to polls and the pandemic.

According to a CNBC report, the fact-checking feature, already launched in the US, Brazil and India, will rely on third-party publishers like the BBC and Full Fact teams in the UK and Correctiv and BR24 in Germany.

YouTube will begin showing users in the UK and Germany fact-checking panels on some video searches.

The panels appear on searches for topics where fact-checkers have published relevant articles on the subject.

The move comes at a time when online platforms have seen a surge in misinformation related to Covid-19.

The expansion of fact-checking was "one of the many steps we are taking to raise up authoritative sources, to provide relevant and authoritative context, and to continue to reduce the spread of harmful misinformation," Ben McOwen Wilson, managing director for YouTube UK, was quoted as saying.

The company earlier said: "Over the past several years, we've seen more and more people coming to YouTube for news and information. The outbreak of Covid-19 and its spread around the world has reaffirmed how important it is for viewers to get accurate information during fast-moving events".

According to Neal Mohan, YouTube's chief product officer, when users are searching on YouTube around a specific claim, we want to give an opportunity for those fact checks to show up right then and there, when our users are looking for information — especially around fast-moving, quickly changing topics like Covid-19.