A YouTube spokesperson said the videos contradicted information so far published by the World Health Organization or health authorities such as the National Health Service about vaccinations, the BBC reported. YouTube banned misinformation about vaccines in October to discourage attempts to discredit vaccines.
The company’s management said that more than 800,000 videos were removed last year due to wrong information about the Coronavirus. This includes not only vaccines covering materials, but also a wide range of related viruses.
‘Not medically supported’
The data is expressed as. Videos containing false claims are also included, such as that a vaccine kills people, causes sterility, or hides a secret chip that is implanted into recipients.
In the early stages of the pandemic, YouTube gave way to a number of conspiracy theories about the disease, including false claims about non-existent “cures”. Although these videos have been erased regularly for some time, finding and deleting content remains a challenge for YouTube and other social platforms.
Throughout the pandemic, social media has been criticized by many for its slow response to harmful disinformation. In recent months, the press and the public have been particularly concerned about how much these platforms are allowing false news about the vaccine to proliferate.
According to an article published by the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), it is clear that the anti-vaccination contents prevented some at-risk people from vaccinating themselves long before the vaccination began. The situation is exacerbated by the fact that a minority of dedicated activists distributing harmful anti-pollination content on internet platforms are using increasingly complex tactics, which makes video platforms such as YouTube difficult to modify.
