Silhouettes of laptop and mobile device users are seen next to a screen projection of the YouTube logo.
Dado Ruvic | Reuters
YouTube unveiled a new policy on Tuesday to combat medical misinformation on its video-sharing platform, as stated in a blog post.
The company aims to simplify its existing guidelines into three categories: prevention, treatment, and denial. In doing so, YouTube will remove content that contradicts well-established guidance from health officials concerning topics like Covid-19, reproductive health, cancer, and harmful substances, among others.
“While medical guidance can evolve over time as we acquire more knowledge, our objective is to prevent the distribution of information that could be harmful to individuals on YouTube when it comes to areas with extensively studied scientific consensus,” the company stated.
Owned by Google, YouTube has faced ongoing challenges in moderating uploaded content. In 2020, a former YouTube moderator sued the company, claiming that content moderators frequently served for less than a year and that the company suffered from chronic understaffing.
As a result, the company often finds itself playing catch-up, rushing to remove posts that violate its established guidelines.
According to the blog post, YouTube will determine if a condition falls under its new medical policy by assessing whether it poses a high public health risk that is prone to misinformation. Cancer is given as an example because individuals often turn to platforms like YouTube for guidance upon receiving a diagnosis.
This means that content discouraging effective treatment or promoting unproven remedies will be removed.
However, YouTube clarified that content of public interest may still be available even if it violates the new policy. For instance, if a political candidate disputes official health guidance or a public hearing includes inaccurate information, YouTube may choose not to remove it.
In these instances, the company will strive to provide additional context to viewers through the videos.
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