YouTube announced on Wednesday that it would ban vaccine misinformation content. Thereby, including that of high-profile users who claim that approved vaccines are unsafe. It is now a part of social media’s assault on health misinformation. YouTube has already taken down videos that spread misinformation about coronavirus treatments.
The Google-owned site stated that its concerns about the proliferation of medical conspiracy theories extended beyond the pandemic. Hence, Youtube will ban everything related to vaccine misinformation content.
“We’ve steadily seen false claims about the coronavirus vaccines spill over into misinformation about vaccines in general,” YouTube said in a statement.
“We’re now at a point where it’s more important than ever to expand the work we started with COVID-19 to other vaccines.”
A YouTube spokesman cited Joseph Mercola, Sherri Tenpenny, and Robert F Kennedy Jr. and said that “well-known vaccine misinformation spreaders will be terminated.”
Tenpenny runs a huge enterprise built on anti-vaccine campaigning, scorn for masks and testing, and doubts that COVID-19 is real, according to an AFP investigation.
A New York Times piece titled “The most influential spreader of coronavirus misinformation online” featured Mercola, a Florida-based osteopathic physician.
In February, Instagram banned Robert F Kennedy Jr. because he was spreading false information regarding COVID-19 and vaccines.
YouTube banned over 130,000 videos for breaking its COVID-19 vaccination rules
YouTube said the expanded policy will apply to “currently administered vaccines that are approved and confirmed to be safe and effective by local health authorities and the WHO (World Health Organization).”
This implies that YouTube will eliminate false claims concerning routine vaccinations for diseases like measles and Hepatitis B.
These include instances in which vloggers have falsely stated that licensed vaccines do not work. They also have incorrectly linked them to long-term health problems.
Youtube will also remove content that “falsely says that approved vaccines cause autism, cancer or infertility, or that substances in vaccines can track those who receive them”
“As with any significant update, it will take time for our systems to fully ramp up enforcement,” YouTube added.
Personal testimonials of poor vaccine experiences are still permissible. But as long as “the channel doesn’t show a pattern of promoting vaccine hesitancy,” according to the revised standards.
Since last year, YouTube has banned over 130,000 videos for breaking its COVID-19 vaccination rules.
The company notified German media on Tuesday that it has blocked Russian state broadcaster RT’s German-language channels. It is for breaking its COVID-19 disinformation policy.
Before shutting down the two channels, YouTube stated it had issued a warning to RT. But the decision has sparked a threat from Moscow to ban the video site.