YouTube updates health ‘misinformation’ policy to ban false cancer cures
Christopher Hutton
Video Embed
YouTube will remove false information about cancer treatments as part of its efforts to rein in medical misinformation.
The video-hosting platform announced an updated and expanded medical misinformation policy on Tuesday, including barring false claims about cancer.
UP FOR DEBATE: WHERE TRUMP, DESANTIS, AND REST OF REPUBLICAN 2024 FIELD STAND ON KEY ISSUES
The restricted content includes videos that “promote cancer treatments proven to be harmful or ineffective, or content that discourages viewers from seeking professional medical treatment,” Dr. Garth Graham, head of YouTube Health, said in a blog post.
“This includes content that promotes unproven treatments in place of approved care or as a guaranteed cure, and treatments that have been specifically deemed harmful by health authorities,” Graham added. He included the example of “taking vitamin C instead of radiation therapy.”
The company is also adopting a broader updated medical misinformation policy that will consider content in three categories: prevention, treatment, and denial.
“To determine if a condition, treatment, or substance is in the scope of our medical misinformation policies, we’ll evaluate whether it’s associated with a high public health risk, publicly available guidance from health authorities around the world, and whether it’s generally prone to misinformation,” Graham wrote. He also noted the platform will act on content that falls into that framework and “contradicts local health authorities or the World Health Organization.”
YouTube’s content moderation policies have been the subject of scrutiny in the wake of its efforts to police claims about the coronavirus during the pandemic. It also announced in July 2022 that it was restricting videos providing information on how to do self-performed abortions.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
YouTube’s decision to rely on sources such as the WHO has led to errors regarding COVID-19. It censored claims about a laboratory in Wuhan being the origin of the COVID-19 virus, a theory now seen as plausible by several government entities.
The company also began certifying health professionals who create medical content in October to ensure users knew which doctors were legitimately trained and which were not.