Misinformation has ended up becoming a really big problem on social media platforms during this pandemic that the entire planet is currently going through but the fact of the matter is that now that the vaccine for this virus is about to be released to the public and made available to as many people as possible some are claiming that now is a more important time than ever for these large platforms to start combating misinformation because of the fact that it might just lead to people that need the vaccine not taking it due to some fake news that they saw online.
YouTube has decided to take steps to remove videos that contain misinformation about vaccines and the like, and a big part of the reason why that is the case has to do with the fact that hours and hours of fake news are uploaded on the platform each and every day which means that many users are feeling rather concerned about the implications of YouTube not really doing anything to stop this sort of thing from happening on a regular basis all in all.
YouTube has reportedly removed about 200,000 videos from its platform since the start of the year, much of it surrounding misinformation about the pandemic. Videos that claim that a vaccine will cause death or infertility are a particularly large problem. The basis on which YouTube will be removing certain videos has a lot to do with the guidelines that the World Health Organization has provided. Basically, videos that provide information that is not consistent with what the nonpartisan global health authority has to say on the matter. This is a great step, one that comes just days after Facebook ended up making a similar decision in this regard. Tech companies are to some extent responsible for the content they contain, and steps like this are important for the common good.
Photo: Toby Melville/Reuters
