YouTube will begin removing content questioning any approved medical vaccine, not just those for Covid-19, a departure from the video site\u2019s historically hands-off approach.<\/p>\n
The division of Alphabet Inc\u2019s Google announced Wednesday that it will extend its policy against misinformation to cover all vaccines that health authorities consider effective. The ban will include any media that claims vaccines are dangerous or lead to chronic health outcomes such as autism, said Matt Halprin, YouTube\u2019s vice president for trust and safety.<\/p>\n
A year ago, YouTube banned certain videos critical of Covid-19 vaccines. The company said it has since pulled more than 130,000 videos for violating that rule. But many videos got around the rule by making dubious claims about vaccines without mentioning Covid-19. YouTube determined its policy was too limited.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe can imagine viewers then potentially extrapolating to Covid-19,\u201d Halprin said in an interview. \u201cWe wanted to make sure that we\u2019re covering the whole gamut.\u201d<\/p>\n
YouTube has faced some – but not all – of the same political pressure as Facebook Inc. and Twitter Inc. for its handling of health information. President Joe Biden and US lawmakers have blasted the platforms for inadequately policing vaccine skepticism and falsehoods. Politicians and pundits on the right have charged YouTube with censoring speech.<\/p>\n
About 64% of the US population has received at least one shot against Covid-19, with health experts saying the illness is increasingly becoming a disease of the unvaccinated. Employers are beginning to require shots for workers although some high-profile celebrities and professional athletes express skepticism about the effectiveness of the vaccines.<\/p>\n
Garth Graham, YouTube\u2019s global head of health care, said the company didn\u2019t speak with the Biden administration about this recent policy update, but consulted with health experts. \u201cThere\u2019s a lot of scientific stability around vaccine safety and effectiveness,\u201d Graham said.<\/p>\n
In February, Facebook said it would ban accounts that repeated conspiracies about vaccines and has tried taking stronger measures to combat vaccine hesitancy.<\/p>\n
To date, YouTube has let people broadcast most anything about vaccines. Its new policy, which goes into effect Wednesday, will remove several prominent accounts that Biden has criticized. That includes Joseph Mercola, a vaccine skeptic with almost half a million YouTube subscribers, and Children\u2019s Health Defense, a group affiliated with Robert F. Kennedy Jr.<\/p>\n
Still, YouTube\u2019s new rule will have two caveats. Halperin said the company will allow \u201cscientific discussion\u201d – videos about vaccine trials, results and failures. And YouTube will continue to permit personal testimonies, such as a parent talking about their child\u2019s experiences getting vaccinated.<\/p>\n
If videos aggregate these testimonials into one clip or make broader claims questioning vaccine efficacy, then they will be removed, according to Halprin. \u201cIt\u2019s only when somebody then turns around and generalizes, \u2018It\u2019s not just about my child,\u2019\u201d he said. \u201cObviously there\u2019s a line there.\u201d<\/p>\n
YouTube has said it has taken down more than 1 million videos since February 2020 for misinformation related to all aspects of Covid-19. The company also treats certain health videos as \u201cborderline,\u201d reducing their appearance in search results and recommendations. YouTube typically doesn\u2019t disclose when this happens.<\/p>\n
Halprin said it\u2019s likely the footage targeted under the new policy is already being treated as borderline. But the YouTube executives didn\u2019t share traffic numbers for these videos or how often YouTube\u2019s system have recommended them to viewers.<\/p>\n