According to a recent report by Axios, YouTube removed 30,000 videos that shared false information regarding the COVID-19 vaccination. the details on these takedowns came six months after the company first updated its policies to address the misinformation being relayed.
Though, last year YouTube had laid policies regarding coronavirus misinformation but did not mention specifically to address the vaccine perspective. Since then the company has taken down more than 800,000 videos from its platform since last year.
As vaccine availability has increased, the need for removal of misinformation has become more urgent. Other media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter, have also worked to ensure that proper information regarding COVID vaccination is being shared. However, YouTube’s policies only address a specific subset of claims about the COVID-19 vaccines that contradict official guidance from the World Health Organization and other authorities. It is expected that YouTube may take further actions later on.
