YouTube will ban all anti-vaccine content, going beyond COVID-19 to include content that claims vaccines cause chronic health effects or contains misinformation about vaccine ingredients, according to a blog post published on Wednesday.
Users who post misinformation about any “currently administered vaccines that are approved and confirmed to be safe and effective by local health authorities and the WHO” will be subject to YouTube’s strike policy and could face removal, the company said in a blog post.
“This would include content that falsely says that approved vaccines cause autism, cancer or infertility, or that substances in vaccines can track those who receive them,” YouTube said, adding that the policy applies to specific immunizations like those for measles, as well as general statements about vaccines.
According to the Post, YouTube’s Vice President of Global Trust and Safety Matt Halprin, the company is also banning prominent anti-vaccine activists and removing several channels.
YouTube reportedly said it will remove the channels of “prominent vaccine misinformation spreaders,” including the Robert F. Kennedy Jr.-affiliated Children’s Health Defense Fund, Joseph Mercola, Erin Elizabeth, and Sherri Tenpenny.
During the pandemic, the platform previously implemented a policy prohibiting misinformation about the coronavirus, including treatment and prevention. However, it was revealed on Wednesday that misleading claims had spread to other areas of medicine.
