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Coronavirus: YouTube cracks down on anti-vaccine misinformation
- Videos and some high-profile users to be removed over false claims that approved vaccines are dangerous
- The company said it was concerned that conspiracy theories about Covid-19 shots can spill over into misinformation about vaccines in general
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YouTube announced on Wednesday it would remove videos and some high-profile users that falsely claim approved vaccines are dangerous, as social networks seek to crack down on health misinformation around Covid-19 and other diseases.
Video-sharing giant YouTube has already banned posts that spread false myths around coronavirus treatments, including ones that share inaccurate claims about Covid-19 vaccines shown to be safe.
But the Google-owned site said its concerns about the spread of medical conspiracy theories went beyond the pandemic.
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“We’ve steadily seen false claims about the coronavirus vaccines spill over into misinformation about vaccines in general,” YouTube said in a statement. “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.”
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A YouTube spokesperson said channels of several “well-known vaccine misinformation spreaders will be terminated”, naming Joseph Mercola and Sherri Tenpenny as well as a Robert F. Kennedy Jnr affiliated channel.
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