YouTube Expands Policy on Banning 'Harmful' Vaccine Content
Summary from the AllSides News Team
YouTube on Wednesday announced a sizable expansion of its medical misinformation policies, which includes banning all content about vaccines that pose "a serious risk of egregious harm" to its viewers. Any videos that "falsely says that approved vaccines cause autism, cancer or infertility, or that substances in vaccines can track those who receive them" will also be censored. Personal testimonies will be allowed as long as they do not violate the community guidelines. The platform will terminate channels belonging to Erin Elizabeth, Joseph Mercola, Sherri Tenpenny and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. — four individuals that the Center for Countering Digital Hate has affiliated with "The Disinformation Dozen" — for purportedly playing leading roles in spreading COVID-19 vaccine misinformation online. Certain countries such as Russia have pushed back against YouTube's restrictions, threatening to block the video platform altogether unless they revive two German-language channels ran by their state media company RT that were deleted after sharing what YouTube dubbed as COVID-19 misinformation. Since last year, the Google-owned platform has already removed over 130,000 "dangerous" videos that violated its COVID-19 vaccine policies. According to a recent study from Pew Research Center, about one in five Americans (22%) say they regularly get news from YouTube.
Coverage across the spectrum prominently highlighted YouTube's new policies Wednesday. Left-and-center rated outlets were more likely to highlight how YouTube is the latest social media platform to follow the White House's plea to censor "The Disinformation Dozen" and other sources of vaccine misinformation. Right-rated outlets reemphasized other related instances, such as when YouTube suspended Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) for claiming cloth masks are ineffective against COVID-19.
Featured Coverage of this Story
From the Left
YouTube to remove misinformation videos about all vaccines
YouTube is to remove videos that spread misinformation about all vaccines, as it steps up a crackdown on harmful content posted during the coronavirus pandemic.
From Wednesday, the video streaming site, which has already banned Covid jab falsehoods, will take down content that contains misinformation such as claiming any approved vaccine is dangerous, causes chronic health defects or does not reduce spread of disease.
Under previous guidelines, the platform demoted – effectively hiding from view – videos that spread misinformation about non-Covid vaccines or promoted vaccine hesitancy.
Last year, YouTube implemented...
From the Center
YouTube expands ban on vaccine misinformation
YouTube on Wednesday said it was expanding it policies around medical misinformation to ban content about vaccines that "poses a serious risk of egregious harm." The video giant already prohibited misinformation about the COVID-19 vaccines, but the updated polices cover all "currently administered vaccines that are approved and confirmed to be safe and effective" by local health agencies and the World Health Organization.
"Working closely with health authorities, we looked to balance our commitment to an open platform with the need to remove egregious harmful content," the company said in a blog post....
From the Right
YouTube Expands Crackdown On Vaccine Misinformation, Targets Specific Accounts
YouTube is expanding its vaccine misinformation policies to include all vaccines approved by health agencies, pursuing more aggressive enforcement against anti-vaccine content and deleting specific accounts.
The social media company will remove any content that “falsely alleges” vaccines approved by the World Health Organization (WHO) are dangerous or ineffective at reducing transmission, as well as content that claims the vaccines contain certain substances, YouTube said in a blog post Wednesday announcing its new guidelines. Examples include claims that vaccines cause autism, infertility, or include microchips and tracking devices, the company said.
YouTube will...
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