YouTube has banned several prominent anti-vaccine activists from its site in efforts to rid itself of what it unilaterally decides are false and misleading claims.
In a blog post, YouTube said it would remove anti-vaccine videos and content that includes misinformation on the contents of the vaccines, the New York Times reports. This includes claims that vaccines cause autism, cancer or infertility.
The platform already had a ban on vaccine misinformation, but the new policy expands the rules to misleading claims about the vaccines. Personal testimonies, content about vaccine policies and trials, and historical videos may remain on the site.
“Today’s policy update is an important step to address vaccine and health misinformation on our platform, and we’ll continue to invest across the board,” YouTube said in its announcement.
Over the last year, YouTube said it has removed over 130,000 videos for violating its vaccine policies. However, this did not include videos the platform considers “borderline videos,” which discuss vaccine skepticism.
