YouTube is cracking down on misinformation and fake news regarding the coronavirus vaccine. The social media giant announced Wednesday that it is banning anti-vaccine content from its platform, and has removed videos from several leading accounts held by prominent members of the anti-vax movement.
Follow Israel Hayom on Facebook and Twitter
In a blog post explaining the policy change, YouTube said no longer allow the spreading of any misinformation about any approved vaccine, not only those aimed at preventing COVID-19.
"Our Community Guidelines already prohibit certain types of medical misinformation. We've long removed content that promotes harmful remedies, such as saying drinking turpentine can cure diseases," the statement said.
"At the onset of COVID-19, we built on these policies when the pandemic hit, and worked with experts to develop 10 new policies around COVID-19 and medical misinformation. Since last year, we've removed over 130,000 videos for violating our COVID-19 vaccine policies.
"Vaccines, in particular, have been a source of fierce debate over the years, despite consistent guidance from health authorities about their effectiveness. Today, we're expanding our medical misinformation policies on YouTube with new guidelines on currently administered vaccines that are approved and confirmed to be safe and effective by local health authorities and the WHO.
"Specifically, content that falsely alleges that approved vaccines are dangerous and cause chronic health effects, claims that vaccines do not reduce transmission or contraction of disease, or contains misinformation on the substances contained in vaccines will be removed.
"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," YouTube stated, adding that the policy applies to specific immunizations like those for measles, as well as general statements about vaccines.
According to CNN, YouTube also said that under the new policy, it would remove the channels of "several well-known vaccine misinformation spreaders" including Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Joseph Mercola.
Kennedy pushed back on the decision, telling CNN Business that "There is no instance in history when censorship has been beneficial for either democracy or public health."
YouTube Vice President of Global Trust and Safety Matt Halprin told The Washington Post that the platform wants "to launch a policy that is comprehensive, enforceable with consistency and adequately addresses the challenge."
Subscribe to Israel Hayom's daily newsletter and never miss our top stories!
