YouTube demonetizes anti-vaccination channels

[onetheycallEric]

In context: YouTube continues to fight back against inappropriate, dangerous, or otherwise false content that violates its terms of service. Most recently, channels promoting anti-vaccination, alternative and holistic medicine, or other forms of pseudoscience have been demonetized and prevented from running ads. This news follows the recent controversy of child exploitation on the platform.

YouTube stated on Friday that it would prevent channels promoting anti-vaccination content from running ads, saying that such content falls strictly under its policy of prohibiting videos with "dangerous and harmful" content to be monetized.

Recently, BuzzFeed News made some inquires regarding algorithmic based recommendations on YouTube, where YouTube's algorithm was returning anti-vaccination videos after watching pro-vaccination content. More importantly, many of the anti-vaccination videos were being monetized with ads. Afterwards, many advertisers pulled their ads following BuzzFeed's investigation.

We have strict policies that govern what videos we allow ads to appear on, and videos that promote anti-vaccination content are a violation of those policies. We enforce these policies vigorously, and if we find a video that violates them, we immediately take action and remove ads,” a YouTube spokesperson said in an email statement to BuzzFeed News.

Seven different advertisers said they were not aware their ads were being served alongside anti-vaccination content that was found on channels such as VAXXED TV, LarryCook333, and iHealthTube, all of which have since been demonized by YouTube. Some companies, like Vitacost, have vowed to stop purchasing programmatic media from YouTube altogether, after their ads were run alongside videos of child exploitation. YouTube was also recently blamed for the rise of the Flat Earth movement.

This comes in the wake of YouTube removing millions of videos and channels last year for spam, scams, extreme content, or conspiracy theories.

The most notable was the removal of Alex Jones' channel, the infamous InfoWars host and right-wing conspiracy theorist. Recently, lawmakers have been putting pressure on tech companies like Facebook and Google to stop the spread and perpetuation of dangerous misinformation, with Rep. Adam Schiff, a Democrat from California, writing an open letter to Google CEO Sundar Pichai.

YouTube has previously stated that it is working on implementing algorithmic changes to its Up Next category to combat misinformation and conspiracy theory related content. Of the changes, YouTube said they "will be gradual and will get more and more accurate over time.”

Permalink to story.

https://www.techspot.com/news/78896-youtube-demonetizes-anti-vaccination-channels.html

 

[Uncle Al]

Freedom of speech and expression are cornerstones of our democracy. Unstated in the constitution is a freedom from undue risk, danger, and life ending conditions, which practically speaking is virtually impossible to insure, but, there are common sense things we can do. Vaccination of children is simply common sense. Those against talk about "many studies", but in fact there was a single study presented by a doctor in England that failed to prove any of it's claims, did not stand the peer review test and ultimately concluded with that doctor loosing his license and right to practice medicine.

Refusing to vaccinate a child puts that child and everyone they come in contact at risk, especially other children and older folks too. It's time for the "me first" generations to understand that what made this country possible and has maintained our way of like has been a willingness to do for the greater good. To make sacrifices that will help keep us and our country strong. The number of children dieing from measles, mumps, chicken pox, and flu continues to rise and will continue until steps are taken to either vaccinate these kids or keep them away from the rest of the population.

The old adage of "asking what you can do for your country" could never be more true. Make America Great Again by taking care of the little people with their shots, regular check ups, and a regular, balanced diet free of soda, sugars, and excess carbs ......

 

[Lew Zealand]

I suppose it'll just drive the antivaxxers elsewhere but it interesting that this was driven by the advertisers not wanting to be associated with non-scientifically supported ideas.

 

[OutlawCecil]

Lol at the video...

@7:35 "Nobody wants to play Russian Roulette"

-Doesn't give her kids what they need to fight off illnesses. hmm.

The myths about vaccines has been looooooooong proven to be wrong. This myth needs to die. The truth is, yes, if your kid has an underlying condition, a vaccine CAN trigger it. If your kid is sick and gets a vaccine, it can make them sicker. In the end, is the high risk of getting an illness he/she can't fight AND risking spreading it to others worth the risk that your kid is part of the 1% that will have a reaction? Just vaccinate your kids people!!!

 

[Mr Majestyk]

The anti-vaxxers should be jailed for gross endangerment of public health and their own children’s health. They are flat earth retards and like a lot of the lunatics they have crawled out of a hole since the orangutang became president. A prgenant women can be arrested for drinking alcohol in public in some states, and what these scum anti-vaxxers advocate is far far worse. Have a look at what’s happening in Minnesota where the anti-vax scum have taken hold.

 

[psycros]

Hopefully other pseudoscience like macroevolution and humans as the primary contributors to climate change will be next.

 

[DaveBG]

This is one change I approve

 

[Udelh579]

It's just sad that people are judged because of their fears. I understand that woman on the video is scared for the child and out of this fear she acts recklessly and possibly dangerous. And I see the point of YouTube of limiting this spread of fear and disinformation.
But it's sad that we don't take in account this woman's state and just want to cut everything down.

 

[Thrackerzod]

Freedom of speech and expression are cornerstones of our democracy. Unstated in the constitution is a freedom from undue risk, danger, and life ending conditions, which practically speaking is virtually impossible to insure, but, there are common sense things we can do. Vaccination of children is simply common sense. Those against talk about "many studies", but in fact there was a single study presented by a doctor in England that failed to prove any of it's claims, did not stand the peer review test and ultimately concluded with that doctor loosing his license and right to practice medicine.

Refusing to vaccinate a child puts that child and everyone they come in contact at risk, especially other children and older folks too. It's time for the "me first" generations to understand that what made this country possible and has maintained our way of like has been a willingness to do for the greater good. To make sacrifices that will help keep us and our country strong. The number of children dieing from measles, mumps, chicken pox, and flu continues to rise and will continue until steps are taken to either vaccinate these kids or keep them away from the rest of the population.

The old adage of "asking what you can do for your country" could never be more true. Make America Great Again by taking care of the little people with their shots, regular check ups, and a regular, balanced diet free of soda, sugars, and excess carbs ......

I completely agree, though just wanted to mention that Freedom of Speech would not be applicable in this case anyway. All it means is that the government can't punish you for your opinions; it has nothing to do with what private companies allow you to say. Youtube is free to block anything they want; they could forbid all cat videos if they wanted to, although that would lead them to financial ruin of course.

 

[iamcts]

Freedom of speech and expression are cornerstones of our democracy. Unstated in the constitution is a freedom from undue risk, danger, and life ending conditions, which practically speaking is virtually impossible to insure, but, there are common sense things we can do. Vaccination of children is simply common sense. Those against talk about "many studies", but in fact there was a single study presented by a doctor in England that failed to prove any of it's claims, did not stand the peer review test and ultimately concluded with that doctor loosing his license and right to practice medicine.

Refusing to vaccinate a child puts that child and everyone they come in contact at risk, especially other children and older folks too. It's time for the "me first" generations to understand that what made this country possible and has maintained our way of like has been a willingness to do for the greater good. To make sacrifices that will help keep us and our country strong. The number of children dieing from measles, mumps, chicken pox, and flu continues to rise and will continue until steps are taken to either vaccinate these kids or keep them away from the rest of the population.

The old adage of "asking what you can do for your country" could never be more true. Make America Great Again by taking care of the little people with their shots, regular check ups, and a regular, balanced diet free of soda, sugars, and excess carbs ......

I completely agree, though just wanted to mention that Freedom of Speech would not be applicable in this case anyway. All it means is that the government can't punish you for your opinions; it has nothing to do with what private companies allow you to say. Youtube is free to block anything they want; they could forbid all cat videos if they wanted to, although that would lead them to financial ruin of course.

Finally... someone else on this website that understands that Freedom of Speech does not apply to private companies.

Private companies can ban or block your from accessing their products and services for any reason they wish. There are edge cases to this, obviously, like where a entity is federally regulated and is required to provide a service.

 

[wiyosaya]

Hopefully other pseudoscience like macroevolution and humans as the primary contributors to climate change will be next.

While the antivaxx movement may be pseudo science that gagme can get rid of, gagme is unlikely to take down any site related to humans contributing to global warming - unless 45 makes consensus science illegal and starts taking down sites like this - https://climate.nasa.gov/causes https://climate.nasa.gov/causes/

 

[Tantor]

Freedom of speech and expression are cornerstones of our democracy. Unstated in the constitution is a freedom from undue risk, danger, and life ending conditions, which practically speaking is virtually impossible to insure, but, there are common sense things we can do. Vaccination of children is simply common sense. Those against talk about "many studies", but in fact there was a single study presented by a doctor in England that failed to prove any of it's claims, did not stand the peer review test and ultimately concluded with that doctor loosing his license and right to practice medicine.

Refusing to vaccinate a child puts that child and everyone they come in contact at risk, especially other children and older folks too. It's time for the "me first" generations to understand that what made this country possible and has maintained our way of like has been a willingness to do for the greater good. To make sacrifices that will help keep us and our country strong. The number of children dieing from measles, mumps, chicken pox, and flu continues to rise and will continue until steps are taken to either vaccinate these kids or keep them away from the rest of the population.

The old adage of "asking what you can do for your country" could never be more true. Make America Great Again by taking care of the little people with their shots, regular check ups, and a regular, balanced diet free of soda, sugars, and excess carbs ......

I completely agree, though just wanted to mention that Freedom of Speech would not be applicable in this case anyway. All it means is that the government can't punish you for your opinions; it has nothing to do with what private companies allow you to say. Youtube is free to block anything they want; they could forbid all cat videos if they wanted to, although that would lead them to financial ruin of course.

Finally... someone else on this website that understands that Freedom of Speech does not apply to private companies.

Private companies can ban or block your from accessing their products and services for any reason they wish. There are edge cases to this, obviously, like where a entity is federally regulated and is required to provide a service.

The problem is that Youtube is essentially no different than a restaurant or other public vendor. They cannot deny service based on race, gender, religion, or political views. You try telling a Black man that he cannot eat at a restaurant because of his color, and see how far it gets you.

Youtube is a public forum. Expressing an opinion about vaccination online is freedom of speech.

 

[IAMTHESTIG]

YT is trying to destroy the very thing that allowed their creation in the first place, freedom. YT only wants you watching videos which align with their political beliefs.

 

[Impudicus]

Youtube is the most qualified to judge the validity of science. Anit-vax content removed based on advertising revenue. Big pharma companies spend and great deal on advertising on youtube. Any anti vax and home remedy info impacts their profits and their public image. Content contradicting them getting removed only feeds the conspiracy.

The big issues is the extreme polarity of the vaccine conversation. It's either never vax, or vax are perfect, not danger to see here. In reality it's the vaccine isn't perfect, but much better than not vaccinating. We should be working to improve and perfect vaccines, admit possible side affects, and move forward. But if they did that there would be law suites, outrage, and people refusing to vaccinate leading to outbreaks and even more serious health problems.

 

[mbrowne5061]

Freedom of speech and expression are cornerstones of our democracy. Unstated in the constitution is a freedom from undue risk, danger, and life ending conditions, which practically speaking is virtually impossible to insure, but, there are common sense things we can do. Vaccination of children is simply common sense. Those against talk about "many studies", but in fact there was a single study presented by a doctor in England that failed to prove any of it's claims, did not stand the peer review test and ultimately concluded with that doctor loosing his license and right to practice medicine.

Refusing to vaccinate a child puts that child and everyone they come in contact at risk, especially other children and older folks too. It's time for the "me first" generations to understand that what made this country possible and has maintained our way of like has been a willingness to do for the greater good. To make sacrifices that will help keep us and our country strong. The number of children dieing from measles, mumps, chicken pox, and flu continues to rise and will continue until steps are taken to either vaccinate these kids or keep them away from the rest of the population.

The old adage of "asking what you can do for your country" could never be more true. Make America Great Again by taking care of the little people with their shots, regular check ups, and a regular, balanced diet free of soda, sugars, and excess carbs ......

I completely agree, though just wanted to mention that Freedom of Speech would not be applicable in this case anyway. All it means is that the government can't punish you for your opinions; it has nothing to do with what private companies allow you to say. Youtube is free to block anything they want; they could forbid all cat videos if they wanted to, although that would lead them to financial ruin of course.

Finally... someone else on this website that understands that Freedom of Speech does not apply to private companies.

Private companies can ban or block your from accessing their products and services for any reason they wish. There are edge cases to this, obviously, like where a entity is federally regulated and is required to provide a service.

The problem is that Youtube is essentially no different than a restaurant or other public vendor. They cannot deny service based on race, gender, religion, or political views. You try telling a Black man that he cannot eat at a restaurant because of his color, and see how far it gets you.

Youtube is a public forum. Expressing an opinion about vaccination online is freedom of speech.

Youtube didn't deny they access to the public forum - the videos are still up - they just denied them the privileged of monetizing their videos through YouTube's ad network. This is something YouTube is allowed to do through the Terms of Service all these channels signed when they joined the platform.

 

[Mark Turner]

While I'm not an anti-vaxxer and acknowledge that creating an antibody response by introducing weakened pathogens can be useful to prevent some diseases, I'm opposed to the fact that aborted fetal tissue (human diploid cell strains) are used in the creation of vaccines and more specifically I'm against the fact that these cells are introduced directly into someone's bloodstream.

Injecting foreign proteins directly into the body (as opposed to eating foreign proteins) can cause genetic misfoldings that may result in any number of diseases/complications – a point that seems lost among both anti-vaxxer crowds (which I do not subscribe to and very likely do spread hysteria) as well as members of the scientific community, who are often uninformed in their own way.

 

[wiyosaya]

While I'm not an anti-vaxxer and acknowledge that creating an antibody response by introducing weakened pathogens can be useful to prevent some diseases, I'm opposed to the fact that aborted fetal tissue (human diploid cell strains) are used in the creation of vaccines and more specifically I'm against the fact that these cells are introduced directly into someone's bloodstream.

https://www.verywellhealth.com/do-vaccines-contain-aborted-fetal-tissue-260337

Injecting foreign proteins directly into the body (as opposed to eating foreign proteins) can cause genetic misfoldings that may result in any number of diseases/complications – a point that seems lost among both anti-vaxxer crowds (which I do not subscribe to and very likely do spread hysteria) as well as members of the scientific community, who are often uninformed in their own way.

Since we are all human, anyone can get something wrong. Doctors often do - doctors run practices, and in a practice, not everything is exactly the same patient to patient.

Furthermore, there are statistics that indicate medical errors are the third leading cause of death in the US.
https://www.veteranstoday.com/2018/04/12/medical-errors-third-leading-cause-of-deaths-in-the-u-s/ For an industry that is supposed to be trying to help humanity, IMO, those statistics indicate that significant problems exist in that industry.

With those kinds of statistics, I don't blame anyone for not trusting the medical industry, and personally, I don't consider using the term industry in combination with medical a misnomer. While there are non-profits out there, the rest are in it for profit.

 

[wiyosaya]

Youtube didn't deny they access to the public forum - the videos are still up - they just denied them the privileged of monetizing their videos through YouTube's ad network. This is something YouTube is allowed to do through the Terms of Service all these channels signed when they joined the platform.

And I bet that does not drive them away from Youtub.

 

[Mark Turner]

"There are perhaps nanograms of DNA fragments still found in the vaccine, perhaps billionths of a gram," he said. "You would find as much if you analyzed the fruits and vegetables you eat."

"And to remove human fibroblast cells entirely from vaccines is out of the question, Offit explained, noting they are necessary because human viruses don't grow well in animal cells."

https://abcnews.go.com/Health/aborted-fetuses-vaccines/story?id=29005539

 

[Cubi Dorf]

Anti vax is not pseudo science. it is lack of trust in big pharma and not want to put dangerous stuff in body so they can get rich. Some vaccines are worth getting, but many are not. The fool is the one that believe what they hear with out investigation.

 

[Cubi Dorf]

If you are not ask How much big pharma pay google for this? Then you should. Most tv money coming from big pharma with their ads. And doctor get money for prescriptions too.

 

[mgwerner]

Freedom of speech and expression are cornerstones of our democracy. Unstated in the constitution is a freedom from undue risk, danger, and life ending conditions, which practically speaking is virtually impossible to insure, but, there are common sense things we can do. Vaccination of children is simply common sense. Those against talk about "many studies", but in fact there was a single study presented by a doctor in England that failed to prove any of it's claims, did not stand the peer review test and ultimately concluded with that doctor loosing his license and right to practice medicine.

Refusing to vaccinate a child puts that child and everyone they come in contact at risk, especially other children and older folks too. It's time for the "me first" generations to understand that what made this country possible and has maintained our way of like has been a willingness to do for the greater good. To make sacrifices that will help keep us and our country strong. The number of children dieing from measles, mumps, chicken pox, and flu continues to rise and will continue until steps are taken to either vaccinate these kids or keep them away from the rest of the population.

The old adage of "asking what you can do for your country" could never be more true. Make America Great Again by taking care of the little people with their shots, regular check ups, and a regular, balanced diet free of soda, sugars, and excess carbs ......

I completely agree, though just wanted to mention that Freedom of Speech would not be applicable in this case anyway. All it means is that the government can't punish you for your opinions; it has nothing to do with what private companies allow you to say. Youtube is free to block anything they want; they could forbid all cat videos if they wanted to, although that would lead them to financial ruin of course.

Finally... someone else on this website that understands that Freedom of Speech does not apply to private companies.

Private companies can ban or block your from accessing their products and services for any reason they wish. There are edge cases to this, obviously, like where a entity is federally regulated and is required to provide a service.

The problem is that Youtube is essentially no different than a restaurant or other public vendor. They cannot deny service based on race, gender, religion, or political views. You try telling a Black man that he cannot eat at a restaurant because of his color, and see how far it gets you.

Youtube is a public forum. Expressing an opinion about vaccination online is freedom of speech.

Youtube is not preventing antivaxxers from spewing their nonsense. They are preventing them from making money from their spewed nonsense. They are still free to make videos and post them, but they will not contain adds, hence the term "demonetized."

There is no freedom of speech with a private company. The left was all cheers when Alex Jones was banned completely, not just demonetized. Now, however, it seems that some on the left want the antivaxxers (mostly leftists, al la Jim Carrey) to keep raking in the dough from spreading stupidity.

 

[Reachable]

ALL medical videos should be demonitized. We're dealing with a subject here that is extremely critical. These aren't kitten videos, UFO theory, or anything else. When you're trying to get clicks your motives can degrade very quickly. It's quite a bit different than writing and publishing a book that a buyer is able to examine before purchase.

This is a win for Big Pharma, which actively and constantly does whatever it can to denigrate and repress anything that competes with it, whether good or bad. With all due respect, Mr. Article Writer, if you characterize all alternative and holistic medicine as pseudoscience then you are ignorant of it.

But who the hell gets their medical information from watching videos? Whatever their quality and whatever they represent, they can only be little more than slick advertisements. The printed word delivers much more salient information for a medical decision in much shorter time.

Unfortunately the Web is so full of crap information. The good stuff in many cases is there, but it floats among massive amounts of nonsense. Try the website of a trusted magazine, or, maybe better yet, go to a bookstore.

 

[IAMTHESTIG]

Youtube didn't deny they access to the public forum - the videos are still up - they just denied them the privileged of monetizing their videos through YouTube's ad network. This is something YouTube is allowed to do through the Terms of Service all these channels signed when they joined the platform.

Still a form of discrimination if you ask me...

And ok maybe they haven't removed the videos yet but it may just be a matter of time before they do. They have changed prioritization in search results and suggestions though.

 

[Reachable]

Freedom of speech and expression are cornerstones of our democracy. Unstated in the constitution is a freedom from undue risk, danger, and life ending conditions, which practically speaking is virtually impossible to insure, but, there are common sense things we can do. Vaccination of children is simply common sense. Those against talk about "many studies", but in fact there was a single study presented by a doctor in England that failed to prove any of it's claims, did not stand the peer review test and ultimately concluded with that doctor loosing his license and right to practice medicine.

Refusing to vaccinate a child puts that child and everyone they come in contact at risk, especially other children and older folks too. It's time for the "me first" generations to understand that what made this country possible and has maintained our way of like has been a willingness to do for the greater good. To make sacrifices that will help keep us and our country strong. The number of children dieing from measles, mumps, chicken pox, and flu continues to rise and will continue until steps are taken to either vaccinate these kids or keep them away from the rest of the population.

The old adage of "asking what you can do for your country" could never be more true. Make America Great Again by taking care of the little people with their shots, regular check ups, and a regular, balanced diet free of soda, sugars, and excess carbs ......

I completely agree, though just wanted to mention that Freedom of Speech would not be applicable in this case anyway. All it means is that the government can't punish you for your opinions; it has nothing to do with what private companies allow you to say. Youtube is free to block anything they want; they could forbid all cat videos if they wanted to, although that would lead them to financial ruin of course.

Finally... someone else on this website that understands that Freedom of Speech does not apply to private companies.

Private companies can ban or block your from accessing their products and services for any reason they wish. There are edge cases to this, obviously, like where a entity is federally regulated and is required to provide a service.

That's the same kind of argument that opponents of net neutrality use.