YouTube Bans Vaccine Controversy Misinformation-New York Times

YouTube said Wednesday that it has banned accounts from some prominent anti-vaccine activists from the platform. Joseph Melcola and Robert F. Kennedy Jr.As part of an effort to remove all content that falsely claims that approved vaccines are dangerous.

In the blog post, YouTube said Remove videos that claim that the vaccine does not slow the transmission or contraction of the disease, or content that contains false information about the composition of the vaccine. The claim that the approved vaccine causes autism, cancer, infertility, or that the vaccine contains a tracker is also removed.

Google-owned platforms also ban false information about the Covid-19 vaccine. However, YouTube says the new policy extends the rules to misleading claims about long-approved vaccines, such as vaccines against measles and hepatitis B, and falsehoods about vaccines in general. Personal testimony about vaccines, content about vaccine policies and new vaccine trials, and past videos of vaccine successes or failures can be left on the site.

“Today’s policy update is an important step in addressing false information about vaccines and health on the platform, and we are fully committed to providing high quality information to our users,” the company said in a statement. We will continue to invest. “

In addition to banning Dr. Mercola and Kennedy, YouTube has deleted accounts from other prominent vaccination activists such as Erin Elizabeth and Sherri Tenpenny, a spokeswoman for the company said.

The new policy will make YouTube more consistent with Facebook and Twitter. During February Facebook said Remove falsely claimed posts about the vaccine, such as withdrawing the claim that the vaccine causes autism or that it is safer to get the coronavirus than to be vaccinated against the coronavirus. However, the platform continues to be a popular destination for people discussing false information, such as unfounded claims. The drug ivermectin is an effective treatment for Covid-19..

March, Twitter Introduce your own policy It explained the penalties for sharing lies about viruses and vaccines.But to the company 5 “strike” rules Before permanently banning people for violating the coronavirus false alarm policy.

Accounts of prominent anti-vaccination activists such as Dr. Mercola and Kennedy remain active on Facebook and Twitter, but Facebook-owned Instagram has suspended Kennedy’s account.

Misinformation researchers have long pointed to a surge in anti-vaccine content on social networks as a factor in vaccine hesitation, including lower adoption of Covid-19 vaccines in more conservative states. YouTube videos often act as a source of content, reportedly spread by word of mouth on platforms such as Facebook and Twitter, and may record tens of millions of views.

“The policy of one platform affects the enforcement of all other platforms because of the way networks work between services,” said a Harvard Law School instructor focusing on online speech and misinformation. Evelyn Douek says. “For example, YouTube is one of the most linked domains on Facebook.”

She added: “You can’t think of these issues on a platform-by-platform basis. It’s not how vaccination groups think of them. You have to think about the entire Internet ecosystem.”

Prominent anti-vaccine activists have long been able to increase the huge number of viewers online, helped by the power of social network algorithms that prioritize videos and posts that have been particularly successful in attracting people’s attention. It’s done. This year, the nonprofit Center for Countering Digital Hate conducted a survey showing that a group of 12 people shared 65% of all anti-vaccine messages on social media and called the group a “disinformation dozen.” Announced. In July, the White House was disseminated with false information about coronaviruses and vaccines. Tension back and forth between government and Facebook..

Dr. Mercola, an osteopathic doctor, Win the top spot in a dozen disinformation.. His Facebook and Instagram followers total more than 3 million, but his YouTube account had nearly 500,000 followers before it was deleted. Dr. Mercola’s Twitter account, which is still open to the public, has more than 320,000 followers.

YouTube said it has deleted more than 130,000 videos over the past year for violating the Covid-19 vaccine policy. However, this did not include a video platform called “Borderline Video” that discussed vaccine skepticism on the site. In the past, the company simply removed such videos from search results and recommendations while promoting videos from professionals and public health agencies.

Bendecker Contributed to the research.