YouTube Removing Anti-Vaccine Videos
Sep 30, 2021 By MarketDepth
YouTube announced it will be removing all videos that contain misinformation regarding the Covid-19 vaccines as well as other diseases like measles, hepatitis and chickenpox. The change was announced in a blog post Wednesday, where the company revealed that its current guidelines, which already prohibit medical misinformation, would be extended to include “currently administered” vaccines.
“We’ve steadily seen false claims about the coronavirus vaccines spill over into misinformation about vaccines in general, and 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.”
Announcement From The Company
The online video sharing platform said that it will remove any content that “falsely alleges that approved vaccines are dangerous and cause chronic health effects.”
Misinformation
“This would include content that falsely says that approved vaccines cause autism, cancer or infertility, or that substances in vaccines can track those who receive them” The blog post stated.
Videos and Account to be Removed
The Google owned company will be removing individual videos and according to the Washington Post, it is prepared to delete entire accounts for the spread of misinformation. The restrictions apply to people like Joseph Mercola, an American doctor which had half a million subscribers and Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who is actively against vaccines, even before the pandemic.
Necessary Action
Tim Caufield, the Canada Research Chair in Health Law and Policy at the University of Alberta, said that the move was much needed.
Misinformation Popular on Platform
According to Caufield, the action took so long, “the cynical explanation is that these videos are extremely popular and that they do drive traffic.” He claimed that social media algorithms usually value whatever is drawing attention, and “there’s a lot of research that tells us that misinformation gets a lot of traction on these platforms — in fact, travels further and faster than the truth.”
