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.
Facebook and Twitter have instituted similar policies to remove COVID-19 vaccine misinformation, which experts say can contribute to vaccine hesitancy.
Although YouTube has taken down many videos and elevated trusted sources, several potentially dangerous videos skate by their filters untouched.
A recent investigation by Media Matters for America found that videos pushing the falsehood that vaccines are being used as a vehicle to implant microchips in patients were pulling in hundreds of thousands of views.
FrenQuezoid on March 12nd, 2021 at 15:12 UTC »
And added 10 trillion ads. Seriously ads every two minutes? Fuck you youtube
VSK-1 on March 12nd, 2021 at 14:19 UTC »
They are banning them because:
A - It gives these people the chance to monetise their channels and profit through low quality traffic
B - if potential mis-information causes scaremongering, panic and maybe even physical harm to someone then Google can get into a spot of bother, legally speaking
C - It will reflect terribly on their PR as most people are definitely not supportive of such content and may loose trust in them as (among other things) a beacon for news, learning and tutorials.
Blueskies245 on March 12nd, 2021 at 13:52 UTC »
Is it just me or the world getting dumber?