News YouTube deletes harmful misinformation about vaccines Deletes over 130,000 coronavirus-related videos from the previous year

YouTube expands coverage from COVID-19 to vaccines (Photo by Alexander Shatov on Unsplash)

YouTube has updated its misinformation policy "Misinformation policies" in its community guidelines. Announcing new guidelines on vaccines, "Misinformation Policy on Vaccines." [Image] An example of disallowed content on YouTube Content that contains harmful and false information about the safety, efficacy and ingredients of vaccines will be removed. In October 2020, YouTube formulated a ``policy on medically incorrect information about the new coronavirus infection (COVID-19)'', and to date, more than 130,000 videos have been deleted for violating it. was

Expanding the deletion target to general vaccines

With the formulation of this guideline, the target has been expanded not only to COVID-19, measles, and hepatitis B, but also to vaccines that are generally approved and vaccinated. . Removes inaccurate or misleading content that claims vaccines have chronic side effects, cannot reduce the spread of infection, or regarding ingredients contained. Examples include content that claims licensed vaccines cause autism, cancer, infertility, etc., or that ingredients in vaccines can track people who have been vaccinated.

Content that is not subject to partial deletion

However, given the importance of open discussion in science, it is important to consider policy regarding vaccines, clinical trials of new vaccines, and the success or failure of past vaccines. content is not deleted. Also, personal stories about vaccines will not be removed unless they violate other community guidelines and the channel itself encourages reluctance to get vaccinated. This means that educational, scientific, artistic and experiential content may not be removed as exceptions. Exceptions may be made, for example, if the purpose of the content is to denounce, discuss, or satire misinformation that violates this policy.

Ryosuke Tsuzuki