YouTube implements stricter policies against medical misinformation, crackdown on videos

Medical misinformation is menace in the online world. People desperately looking for miracule cures for an ailment often fall prey to this half-baked information available online and end up affecting the doctor-patient relationship as well as the quality of medical care. YouTube, in light of this, has formulated stricter measures to crackdown on such videos.

The video streaming platform has announced that it is implementing stricter policies against medical misinformation, in an effort to combat the spread of harmful and misleading content on its platform.

The new policies will focus on three areas- prevention, treatment, and denial. To explain it better, YouTube will take down content that contradicts health authority guidance on the prevention and transmission of specific health conditions, and on the safety and efficacy of approved vaccines. It will also remove content that promotes specific harmful substances or practices for the treatment of specific health conditions. And finally, it will remove content that denies the existence of specific health conditions including content that denies people have died from COVID-19.

YouTube’s new policies are particularly aimed at taking down the videos that promote cancer cures that are “harmful or ineffective, or content that discourages viewers from seeking professional medical treatment.”

“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. For instance, a video that claims “garlic cures cancer,” or “take vitamin C instead of radiation therapy” would be removed,” YouTube notes.

There has been a rise on videos on YouTube in recent years that claim to offer miracle cures for cancer. These cures are often scientifically unproven or are even dangerous sometimes. Following the suggestions in these videos can have severe repercussions such as delay in the right medical treatment or worsening of the condition.

YouTube is collaborating with Mayo Clinic on new video content to share legitimate video information on cancer cures. It is publishing a playlist of engaging, informative cancer-related videos from a range of authoritative sources.