Source: TheDrum
YouTube will no longer monetize content that promotes anti-vaccinations, in a move that comes after mounting pressure to deal with the volume of conspiracy theory and misinformation content on vaccinations that are rampant on this platform.
In the UK, the shadow health secretary Jonathan Ashworth said tech platforms were creating a “public health emergency” by failing to stop posts encouraging parents not to vaccinate their children.
The World Health Organization recently said “vaccine hesitancy” was one of 2019’s top threats to global health.
The Google-owned video platform said its advertising policy bans “dangerous and harmful” content from monetization and it would now stop serving ads against anti-vaccination channels and videos.
“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,” YouTube said in a statement.
“We enforce these policies vigorously, and if we find a video that violates them, we immediately take action and remove ads.”
Simultaneously, YouTube is also struggling with another crisis involving sexual predators and pedophiles on their platform.
