YouTube is banning prominent anti-vaccine activists and blocking all anti-vaccine content

[BumRushDaShow]

Source: Washington Post

SAN FRANCISCO — YouTube is taking down several video channels associated with high-profile anti-vaccine activists including Joseph Mercola and Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who experts say are partially responsible for helping seed the skepticism that’s contributed to slowing vaccination rates across the country. As part of a new set of policies aimed at cutting down on anti-vaccine content on the Google-owned site, YouTube will ban any videos that claim that commonly used vaccines approved by health authorities are ineffective or dangerous. The company previously blocked videos that made those claims about coronavirus vaccines, but not ones for other vaccines like those for measles or chickenpox.

Misinformation researchers have for years said the popularity of anti-vaccine content on YouTube was contributing to growing skepticism of lifesaving vaccines in the United States and around the world. Vaccination rates have slowed and about 56 percent of the U.S. population has had two shots, compared with 71 percent in Canada and 67 percent in the United Kingdom. In July, President Biden said social media companies were partially responsible for spreading misinformation about the vaccines, and need to do more to address the issue.

The change marks a shift for the social media giant, which streams more than 1 billion hours’ worth of content every day. Like its peers Facebook and Twitter, the company has long resisted policing content too heavily, arguing maintaining an open platform is critical to free speech. But as the companies increasingly come under fire from regulators, lawmakers and regular users for contributing to social ills — including vaccine skepticism — YouTube is again changing policies that it has held onto for months.

YouTube didn’t act sooner because it was focusing on misinformation specifically about coronavirus vaccines, said Matt Halprin, YouTube’s vice president of global trust and safety. When it noticed that incorrect claims about other vaccines were contributing to fears about the coronavirus vaccines, it expanded the ban. “Developing robust policies takes time,” Halprin said. “We wanted to launch a policy that is comprehensive, enforceable with consistency and adequately addresses the challenge.”

Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2021/09/29/youtube-ban-joseph-mercola/

---

FINALLY.

[hlthe2b]

1. 670,000 Fatalities too late, but finally...

[Delphinus]

22. Kinda my thought too

... about freaking time.

[Sherman A1]

39. Precisely

Long overdue. But I guess it’s nice the bright boys at YouTube finally figured out this might be a problem…..

[NurseJackie]

2. "including Joseph Mercola and Robert F. Kennedy Jr." --- BOOM!

[mitch96]

7. A friend went to one of Mercola's recent seminars and all he talked about was how the "Government"

conspiracy was out to "cancel" him. Even before Covid he was spouting anti medical/science, buy my supplements garbage. "Why cook good food when you can take a pill!"
A MD who sells supplement cures for everything... uffda
m

[paleotn]

11. Thank god!

[grantcart]

18. +1

[calimary]

21. And +1 more.

K&R

[Snackshack]

3. Good

About 9 months too late but ok.

Hopefully bannons bull 💩 will be deplatformed as well.

[marble falls]

4. What took so long?

[OldBaldy1701E]

34. The profits have dropped off

Now that those nuts are losing viewers. It is all about the money. If those vids were raking it in, they'd still be there.

[marble falls]

44. I hate it now that any cynical canard one can imagine is true.

[FSogol]

5. One year too late.

[Miguelito Loveless]

6. Only 18 months too late.

But I'll take it.

Though the families of a lot of dead people would probably like a word.

[PSPS]

8. Almost two years too late but, hey! They made so much money off of every unnecessary death!

[OldBaldy1701E]

35. Capitalism 101 (n/t)

[Chakaconcarne]

9. Good...all of this COVID misinformation is just a continuation of Jan 6th..

[PortTack]

10. Yeah...yes, should have done it sooner. Just happy to hear it's gone

[OldBaldy1701E]

36. MUCH sooner. (n/t)

[riversedge]

12. Way Past time to do this. way way way.........

............YouTube didn’t act sooner because it was focusing on misinformation specifically about coronavirus vaccines, said Matt Halprin, YouTube’s vice president of global trust and safety. When it noticed that incorrect claims about other vaccines were contributing to fears about the coronavirus vaccines, it expanded the ban. “Developing robust policies takes time,” Halprin said. “We wanted to launch a policy that is comprehensive, enforceable with consistency and adequately addresses the challenge.”

Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2021/09/29/youtube-ban-joseph-mercola/

[geardaddy]

13. What the hell is wrong with RFK, Jr?!

[BumRushDaShow]

14. The same type of thing

that is wrong with Alveda King, Martin Luther King's niece.

I think some of it is a pathological need for "attention", and it doesn't matter whether it is positive or negative.

[geardaddy]

16. Ugh, that's just sad (and infuriating!)

[RKP5637]

23. Yep, I think so!!! "... some of it is a pathological need for "attention", and it doesn't matter

whether it is positive or negative."

[OldBaldy1701E]

38. As the old saying goes

"There is no such thing as good or bad publicity. It is just 'publicity'."

[ShazzieB]

28. I don't know exactly, but he's against vaccines, in general, not just the covid vaccines.

RFK Jr. Has been antivax for years and years, way before covid came along. He was preaching the "Vaccines cause autism" gospel before Jenny McCarthy was even a mother.

I don't know if he does it for attention as some have said, but he's definitely a major, long time purveyor of antivax crazy.

[geardaddy]

42. The study that those anti-vax folks always cite

was debunked long ago! Why do they continue to spout such BS?

[SergeStorms]

15. It's about time.

Thank you, YouTube. Now for Facebook.

[Tommymac]

17. DIS-information, dammit. NOT Mis-information.

It is INTENTIONAL!!!!!

Just ask Putin.

The MSM HAS to get this corrected. It is a planned thing, not just ignorance.

[BumRushDaShow]

19. I think it can be considered both

You have what they are nowadays dubbing "influencers" who put the crap out there on purpose (with an intent to deceive). I.e., manufacturing "disinformation".

But then you have their lackey "followers" or innocents who are Facebook or Twitter or Instagram (or in this case, YouTube) junkies who enjoy stuff like that, where they think they are now "in the know". So they parrot/repeat that false info, making them purveyors of "misinformation", because they didn't originate it, but still propagate it.

[LudwigPastorius]

20. The first vaccine was available December 11th, 2020.

Since then, there have been over 3 million deaths globally, all the while YouTube allowed lies about the vaccines to be disseminated.

Way to go, YouTube!

[bucolic_frolic]

24. YouTube is a cesspool beside a university

In the past they have pulled videos with outright lies. Curing all cancer with baking soda type of stuff. So I find this to be progress.

But there is much opinion presented as fact too. Disclaimers should be all over the place. So much hype over gold, silver, crypto. Peter Schiff and his hatred of Dems abounds. I report many of them. My screening may be political but I can't see lies as beneficial to anyone or anything.

[progressoid]

25. Closing the barn door after the horse(s) have bolted

[godfree2]

26. False. I have reported dozens of groups, I checked 32 of my reports. Still up

plandemic & backup videos still up
Ivemectin videos still up.
COVID19 fake cures still up
antiVax groups still up
videos inciting hatred and violence still up

[ShazzieB]

30. This is something they've just announced.

Before this, they evidently just ignored this stuff. Now that they say they're going to work on taking it down, it'll probably take them awhile to clean things up.

[OldBaldy1701E]

40. They did not 'ignore' anything

Except the complaints. Too busy counting.

[C Moon]

27. On FB, when the pandemic was soaring through 2020, I didn't see a single "digital friend" mentioning

a loved one having COVID and being hospitalized.
Today, I saw two.
Both were their fathers.
I'm guessing, but not sure, their fathers were anti-vaxxers, as they were very concerned about them surviving (and there was no mention of them having been vaccinated).

I'm just saying that Delta has given a serious blow to anti-vaxxers. It's astonishing what's happening. Well, maybe not astonishing, but just wow.

[Ka-Dinh Oy]

29. To little to late.

[Dukkha]

33. the effort may be admirable

But they'll never keep up with the whack-a-mole effect and the trolls and bots commenting everywhere on the legitimate news channels.

[BumRushDaShow]

37. Yup.

They have been playing whack-a-mole since last October and it hasn't let up.

October 14, 2020 9:52 AM Updated a year ago
YouTube bans coronavirus vaccine misinformation

By Elizabeth Culliford, Paresh Dave

The video platform said it would now ban any content with claims about COVID-19 vaccines that contradict consensus from local health authorities or the World Health Organization. YouTube said in an email that this would include removing claims that the vaccine will kill people or cause infertility, or that microchips will be implanted in people who receive the vaccine.

(The story has been refiled to change references to blog post to email)

A YouTube spokesman told Reuters that general discussions in videos about “broad concerns” over the vaccine would remain on the platform. YouTube says it already removes content that disputes the existence or transmission of COVID-19, promotes medically unsubstantiated methods of treatment, discourages people from seeking medical care or explicitly disputes health authorities’ guidance on self-isolation or social distancing.

Conspiracy theories and misinformation about the new coronavirus vaccines have proliferated on social media during the pandemic, including through anti-vaccine personalities on YouTube and through viral videos shared across multiple platforms.


https://www.reuters.com/article/health-coronavirus-youtube-int/youtube-bans-coronavirus-vaccine-misinformation-idUSKBN26Z21R

YouTube removed 30,000 videos with vaccine misinformation


By Chris Mills Rodrigo - 03/11/21 10:07 AM EST


YouTube has taken down more than 30,000 videos containing misinformation about the coronavirus vaccine since October, a company spokesperson told The Hill Thursday. The videos “included claims about COVID-19 vaccinations that contradict local health authorities or the World Health Organization,” Elena Hernandez said in a statement.

The platform has taken down 800,000 videos for general COVID-19 misinformation since February of last year.

Containing coronavirus misinformation, specifically about the vaccines that are now available to the public, has been a challenge for social media platforms.

https://thehill.com/policy/technology/542707-youtube-removed-30000-videos-with-vaccine-misinformation

[Steelrolled]

41. Perhaps it was a mistake to let people participate so freely in social media.

Perhaps Twitters, etc., should provide a list of opinions, and you just check the box (one box only please, we don't want things to get too controversial).

[Javaman]

43. only now they close the barn door.

great job there ytub.