• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

Youtube bans all anti-vaxx content.

Status
Not open for further replies.
belmarduk

belmarduk

Member
Wow. I wasn't expecting this. A great move but it will likely make some people's heads explode.

YouTube is banning all anti-vaccine content on its platform, including misinformation about approved vaccines for common illnesses in addition to COVID-19, the company said Wednesday.

The Google-owned social media platform will remove any video that attempts to describe well-known vaccines that are approved by federal health officials as being harmful, it said in a blog post first reported by the Washington Post. That includes content claiming vaccines can cause autism, cancer, infertility, or can allow the recipient of the vaccine to be tracked via microchip.

YouTube previously had banned false information surrounding the coronavirus vaccines in October 2020. The company said it will still allow discussion around vaccine policies, new vaccine trials, and personal accounts of receiving the vaccine.

A YouTube spokesperson also confirmed to Insider that the company will remove the accounts of high-profile anti-vaxxers like Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the nephew of former President John F. Kennedy, and anti-vaccine activist and author Joseph Mercola.

Kennedy Jr. was one of 12 people that a recent report found to be the most prolific spreaders of COVID-19 disinformation online.

https://news.yahoo.com/youtube-takes-sweeping-stand-against-140837954.html
 
Last edited:
NoLootBoxDev

NoLootBoxDev

Member
Clear said:
How is banning discussion *of anything* "a great move"?
Click to expand...
I am open to any discussion on any topic, but disinformation based on lies and such is a no-go. It is like giving flat earth space for discussion, that is pure disinformation which does not help anyone, or could kill someone (like the guy who built a ship to prove the earth was flat and killed himself).
 
It's all in the wrist

It's all in the wrist

Member
What a disappointment. We went along with the Trump bans because he's "dangerous". We go along with vaccine bans because they're "dangerous".


No, what's dangerous is banning content with broad strokes. They want to make up our mind for us. Avert your eyes. I've not seen a single anti-vax video on YouTube, unless you count legitimate doctors giving different opinions. Which, they ultimately want to ban as well.


The bigger tragedy is that they banned the "Ah fuck. I can't believe you've done this" meme video for violence. I'll pour one out to that classic.
 
Bernd Lauert

Bernd Lauert

Banned
It's all in the wrist said:
I've not seen a single anti-vax video on YouTube, unless you count legitimate doctors giving different opinions. Which, they ultimately want to ban as well.
Click to expand...
It's more insidious than that. They don't want to ban legitimate opinions, they ultimately want to force those who are voicing these opinions to self-censor. Bans always have a chilling effect, people become very careful about what they say because they don't want to get banned. Ultimately it's all about control.
 
AJUMP23

AJUMP23

Parody of actual AJUMP23
Natalie Portman Politics GIF by Star Wars
 
Nobody_Important

Nobody_Important

“Aww, it’s so...average,” she said to him in a cold brick of passion
EviLore said:
Should Youtube allow the next Jim Jones death cult on its platform to encourage the murder-suicide of 900 people? Drink up, kids!

The anti-vax conspiracy movement has killed orders of magnitude more people.
Click to expand...
And it's not just deaths directly related to diseases. It's also the financial burden that these idiots have brought down on various industries and institutions.


This past year is the perfect example of that. It's a domino effect of dumb.
 
6502

6502

Member
Good.

Now maybe people will start to question the motives of what the media select for your consumption. Corporations are not your friends.

In doing that (if they think it through) they should realise the fallacy of this particular conspiracy along the way.

A lesson for everybody.
 
It's all in the wrist

It's all in the wrist

Member
Jim
EviLore said:
Should Youtube allow the next Jim Jones death cult on its platform to encourage the murder-suicide of 900 people? Drink up, kids!

The anti-vax conspiracy movement has killed orders of magnitude more people.
Click to expand...
Jones happened in relative secrecy.

Anti vax has been a thing long before COVID. People have a general distrust of science, and what's making it worse are the people that have taken it upon themselves to ram it down our throats aggressively.

People don't just see anti vax videos (though the misinformation doesn't help get the vaccine adopted, I agree). They see Australia shutting down, they see idiotic mask mandates, and they see their government literally forcing them to get an invasive shot against their will. You think criticisms to these perfectly reasonable concerns aren't going to get banned next? I find it chilling to think about.

It's way too late to course correct. People have made up their mind. I'm not against vaccines at all and never have been, but it's all become lumped up into a bigger social issue.
 
AJUMP23

AJUMP23

Parody of actual AJUMP23
EviLore said:
Should Youtube allow the next Jim Jones death cult on its platform to encourage the murder-suicide of 900 people? Drink up, kids!

The anti-vax conspiracy movement has killed orders of magnitude more people.
Click to expand...
Is that the responsibility of the individual, or of the platform?

Also Jones directly murdered people by feeding them poison, not really an apples to apples comparison.

I think there are a couple of problems, the main one being calling something a vaccine that is not, it is more of a flu shot than anything. And it acts like that, doesn't stop you from getting the virus, but does reduce the symptoms. I think if they hadn't branded it a vaccine initially it would have helped prevent all the misinformation.

Other issues arise from a general distrust of anything and everything in this country currently. The current state of our government is one of mistrust and misinformation. (regardless of political allegiance). All of these factors bolster the mis-information about what is essentially a flu shot.


(FOR Perspective purposes, I have had the COVID shot)
 
K

Kraz

Banned
There's other platforms for that content. Those can get all that reputation for hosting.
If youtube wants to distance itself from that content that's their figurative and literal business.

Read an article sometime in the last few months about that misinformation dozen on facebook. Corporate math appears to work out to be less a loss this way. Maybe they see platforming the content as just feeding a frenzied vocal minority public health menace that loses them viewers and money.
 
Nobody_Important

Nobody_Important

“Aww, it’s so...average,” she said to him in a cold brick of passion
It's all in the wrist said:
Jim

Jones happened in relative secrecy.

Anti vax has been a thing long before COVID. People have a general distrust of science, and what's making it worse are the people that have taken it upon themselves to ram it down our throats aggressively.

People don't just see anti vax videos (though the misinformation doesn't help get the vaccine adopted, I agree). They see Australia shutting down, they see idiotic mask mandates, and they see their government literally forcing them to get an invasive shot against their will. You think criticisms to these perfectly reasonable concerns aren't going to get banned next? I find it chilling to think about.

It's way too late to course correct. People have made up their mind. I'm not against vaccines at all and never have been, but it's all become lumped up into a bigger social issue.
Click to expand...
Invasive? Against their will? You are acting like secret agents in suits are strapping people to tables and torturing them. All you have to do is go to your local pharmacy and get a completely free and NON-invasive shot. Just like you would for your yearly flu shot. Then you go back a month later for the second one. That or you just need to get tested regularly. That's it.



So tired of people acting like the government is yanking people from their homes and cutting off their fingers. Its a safe vaccine that has been statistically proven to saves lives and reduce the burden on hospitals. It's not a lobotomy.
 
TransTrender

TransTrender

Gold Member
For all I know, or care, all of this false information is just counter-ops from foreign antagonist states to destabilize the USA or the West (by extension).
So far it has worked.
 
Clear

Clear

CliffyB's Cock Holster
Cyberpunkd said:
Putting on the side the fact YouTube is a private platform and can do whatever they want - both sides are not equal, and they should not be treated as such. Imagine trying to start a serious discussion of the Earth is flat.
Click to expand...

Yes, they can. But if they want to they should forgo section 230 because they are no longer acting as a neutral public platform imho.

The issue is, as always, who gets to determine what's a "bad idea". In China the CCP would define it as anything that goes against the party line, and extreme an example as that is, it demonstrates that the reasonability of such a doctrine really depends on who's making the decision as to what is and isn't acceptable.

Free speech matters. Bad ideas need to be publicly available so they can be defeated by good ideas and good argumentation.

Its funny, I see people use the argument that its a tool to defeat propaganda and propagandists, but the reality is that when only certain speech is permitted EVERTYTHING that remains has to be propaganda.
 
poppabk

poppabk

Cheeks Spread for Digital Only Future
Bernd Lauert said:
It's more insidious than that. They don't want to ban legitimate opinions, they ultimately want to force those who are voicing these opinions to self-censor. Bans always have a chilling effect, people become very careful about what they say because they don't want to get banned. Ultimately it's all about control.
Click to expand...
When it comes to what amounts to unregulated medical advice people should be very careful about what they say.
 
tommib

tommib

Banned
EviLore said:
Should Youtube allow the next Jim Jones death cult on its platform to encourage the murder-suicide of 900 people? Drink up, kids!

The anti-vax conspiracy movement has killed orders of magnitude more people.
Click to expand...
Why don’t we lock the thread then and ban all antivaxxers in the forum?
 
Last edited:
Tschumi

Tschumi

Member
This is fantastic, hope other platforms follow on.

Here's something for anti-vax armchair warriors to wrap their heads around:

You're Another One of the view count to these people, they tailor their content to get your click and earn more money.

You're a number.

You're not a freedom warrior, you're a number on a video summary. You're sucked in, by a mindless computer that reckons this'll get you to click. Baaa.

And you're getting exercised by a theory put forward by a dufus in the 90s that was quickly disproven only to be adopted by shrill alarmists with nothing better to do and nothing to base it on.
 
Last edited:
Phunkydiabetic

Phunkydiabetic

Banned
TransTrender said:
For all I know, or care, all of this false information is just counter-ops from foreign antagonist states to destabilize the USA or the West (by extension).
So far it has worked.
Click to expand...

*User banned* Xenophobic conspiratorial rhetoric

I don't entirely disagree with you here, there is evidence out there thst suggests this is happening!
 
Lupingosei

Lupingosei

Banned
As a historian, I can tell you, removing people's possibility for open discourse and sending them to the underground always worked the way it was intended and is the cornerstone of every democracy.

This is no slippery slope at all. Probably people demonstrating the lockdowns will be next and that is fine too because it saves lives.
 
Last edited:
Soodanim

Soodanim

Member
Anti-vax is full of misinformation fuelled by distrust of an or many establishments. Because of that, people doing their own research to make their own decisions often leads down a path of not believing X for whatever reason, instead believing Y by default, and that's where the misinformation becomes harmful. You had the reports of people injecting bleach and all the rest of it. But it's precisely because of that same distrust that removing "alternative" viewpoints only results in more distrust, because it's seen as "Silencing the truth". It's a lose/lose situation when it comes to those people.

There's also the point of the scope of this ban. We all know about how the algorithm runs YouTube, so who's to say valid discussion won't be removed? Casting a wide net will catch more than just what you're looking for.

Then there's the valid slippery slope concern. Once it's established as an option, people will want to pick that option for varying reasons. Sometimes those reasons won't be so altruistic.
 
Nobody_Important

Nobody_Important

“Aww, it’s so...average,” she said to him in a cold brick of passion
Clear said:
Free speech matters. Bad ideas need to be publicly available so they can be defeated by good ideas and good argumentation.
Click to expand...
That's a great idea until you realize that these people are too damn stupid to realize what they are seeing is a "bad idea" as you put it therefore they do not seek out the "good ideas" to counter them. They just go out and repeat the same stupidity. That in turn pollutes the mind of other people and begins a domino effect of dumb. Platforms can and should get rid of this kind of content. It has no merit and only serves to convince idiots to harm themselves and others. The anti-vax nonsense this past year has done and continues to do untold damage to the world in terms of human suffering and financial cost.



Now if YouTube and Facebook start banning criticism of governments or something then yeah the free speech argument needs to happen. But this is not that. It's not even close.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Similar threads

Australia plans to ban children from social media
2 3 4
160
7K
Cyberpunkd replied
  • Locked
[TNYT] Brazil Blocks X After Musk Ignores Court Orders
Social News Community 2
69
4K
ManaByte replied
Nexus Mods removes anti-gay Baldur's Gate 3 mod (Update: Nexus are too far lost in their sauce)
Community 2 3 4
193
21K
Guilty_AI replied
  • Locked
Elon Musk vs Brazil’s Federal Supreme Court
Social Opinion News
12
3K
AJUMP23 replied
Bobby Kotick, former CEO of Activision, Interested in Buying Tik-Tok
2 3
143
11K
Gameplay Gods Bless replied
Top Bottom