(SNews) – Google-owned YouTube has launched new “medical misinformation” censorship policies, the video streaming platform has announced.
According to a blog post by the popular video platform on Tuesday, YouTube will be ramping up efforts to crack down on dissenting content deemed to be “misinformation.”
YouTube is streamlining its existing policy into three distinct categories, according to the announcement.
The move comes in anticipation of more long-term suppression of medical information authorities disagree with.
A significant portion of YouTube’s announcement focuses on how it will now censor certain cancer-related content.
“Starting today and ramping up in the coming weeks, we will begin removing content that promotes cancer treatments proven to be harmful or ineffective, or content that discourages viewers from seeking professional medical treatment,” the announcement states.
Today, @YouTube introduced an updated framework to simplify its medical misinformation policies and will begin to remove content that promotes certain cancer misinformation.
Read the full announcement to learn more: https://t.co/3jql2E95YL pic.twitter.com/E8va4fds5K
— Google Health (@GoogleHealth) August 15, 2023
YouTube acknowledges the evolving nature of medical knowledge and information in its announcement.
However, “our goal is to ensure that when it comes to areas of well-studied scientific consensus, YouTube is not a platform for distributing information that could harm people,” its announcement states.
According to the announcement, the three categories of “medical misinformation” will be Prevention, Treatment, and Denial.
The Big Tech giant warns that YouTube will remove content that “contradicts health authority guidance.”
The news comes as Democrat presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. recently filed a lawsuit against YouTube and its parent company, Google, for allegedly violating his free speech with repeated censorship, as Slay News reported.
YouTube has removed Kennedy’s videos because of its “vaccine misinformation” policies on multiple occasions, according to the complaint.
The streaming platform has also removed videos uploaded by other users that feature comments from Kennedy.
Since “YouTube does not allow people to say anything ‘that contradicts local health authorities’ (LHA) or the World Health Organization’s (WHO) medical information about COVID-19,’” this means the government sets the medical censorship guidelines, Kennedy’s lawsuit alleges.
slaynews.com/news/youtube-announces-new-policies-target-medical-misinformation/
