YouTube has announced that it is expanding its misinformation policy to remove false claims about a potential Covid-19 vaccination.
Claims that contradict local health authorities such as the NHS in the UK, or the World Health Organisation, will be removed.
This includes claims that the vaccine will kill people or cause infertility, as well as conspiracy theories that microchips will be implanted in people who receive the vaccine.
Both conspiracy theories have been propagated recently. According to polls, half of Fox News viewers believe that Bill Gates wants to use a coronavirus vaccine to implant microchips into Americans for global surveillance.
In London, anti-lockdown and anti-vaccination protestors gathered in Trafalgar Square, claiming that the coronavirus is a hoax or, should it exist, government lockdowns should end.
The World Health Organisation says a vaccine against Covid-19 may be ready by the end of 2020.
Nine experimental vaccines are being developed by the Covax global vaccine facility, with the intention to distribute two billion doses by the end of 2021.
YouTube already removes certain misinformation about the coronavirus. This includes claims that the virus does not exist, content which discourages people from seeking medical treatment, or content which disputes local health advice.
The video hosting site has “removed over 200K videos related to dangerous or misleading COVID-19 information” since February.
Content that “comes close to” violating the company’s Community Guidelines is apparently less than one percent of content watched in the United States. Nevertheless, the company has been reducing recommendations of this borderline content since January 2019, it says.
YouTube is not the only technology giant struggling to contain coronavirus misinformation. Social media companies are only taking down two per cent of reported posts spreading misinformation about vaccines, according to studies.
Facebook has said it will ban ads on its platform that discourage vaccinations, with the exception of adverts about government vaccine policies.
Twitter also added new labels and warning messages to “provide additional context and information” to tweets with “disputed or misleading information” about the coronavirus.
negGpush on October 14th, 2020 at 15:15 UTC »
But isn't it possible that a rushed vaccine without long term clinical trials could cause unforeseen health complications in patients years down the road? I'm not stirring the pot, I'm just curious.
ECH0-76 on October 14th, 2020 at 14:42 UTC »
Your phone that you use to watch these nonsense videos and look at Facebook already tracks you more than any chip could.
SweatyAsHell on October 14th, 2020 at 14:12 UTC »
Lol the people that believe that shizz dont know its already happening just from their Facebook and social medias.