From October 2020 to September 2021 YouTube has removed more than 130.000 videos for violating the platform's policies on covid-19 regarding vaccine information, Neal Mohan reported, 'chief product officer', responsible for the YouTube product area, in a statement.
(1/2) Throughout the pandemic, we learned important lessons about designing and enforcing COVID-19 vaccine misinfo policies at scale. Today, we're expanding on this work at @YouTube and launching new policies for content on approved vaccines: https://t.co/kwEAtNiCA4 pic.twitter.com/7o0TgXi5XH
- Neal Mohan (@nealmohan) September 29, 2021
"The elaboration of rules on medical misinformation is a task that entails complicated challenges and balances."and "scientific knowledge evolves as new studies emerge and, firsthand, with personal experience that regularly plays a powerful role in online discourse.'”, stresses the document.
Speaking of vaccines, the same "have been a source of fierce debate over the years, despite consistent guidance from health authorities on their effectiveness.", so today "we are expanding our medical misinformation policies on YouTube with new guidelines on currently administered vaccines that are approved and confirmed as safe and effective by local health authorities and the WHO [World Health Organization]“, says Neal Mohan.
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The YouTube Community Rules “they already ban certain types of medical misinformation" and "we have long removed content that promotes harmful remedies, such as saying that drinking turpentine can cure illnesses".
Please note that at the beginning of the covid-19 pandemic, YouTube policies were based on these policies and the video platform worked with experts to develop 10 new rules around medical misinformation and covid-19.
In addition to the more than 130 videos removed in almost a year, “we've also increased content with high-quality information for people searching for coronavirus-related content and provided localized information panels about vaccines that have been viewed billions of times“, adds the document.
YouTube also claims that it works “in close collaboration with health authorities” and search for “balance” its commitment “to an open platform with the need to remove blatantly harmful content“, He stresses.
"We have constantly seen false claims about coronavirus vaccines spread through misinformation about vaccines in general, and now we are at a point where it is more important than ever to expand the work we started with covid-19 to other vaccines".
That is, "content that falsely alleges that approved vaccines are dangerous and cause chronic health effects", which "claims that vaccines do not reduce the transmission or contraction of the disease or that contains incorrect information about the substances contained in the vaccines, will be removed", Explain.
The policy update released today "is an important step to address the misinformation about vaccines and health on our platform, and we will continue to invest in policies and products that bring quality information to our viewers and the entire YouTube community.“, concludes Neal Mohan.
