The video-streaming giant gave examples of content it says falsely claims the coronavirus vaccine is dangerous or causes chronic health issues; claims that the vaccine causes autism; claims that the vaccine does not reduce transmission of the Chinese coronavirus; claims that the vaccine causes infertility and so on.
"Working closely with health authorities, we looked to balance our commitment to an open platform with the need to remove egregious harmful content," YouTube said in a statement Wednesday. "We’ve steadily seen false claims about the coronavirus vaccines spill over into misinformation about vaccines in general, and we're now at a point where it's more important than ever to expand the work we started with COVID-19 to other vaccines."
YouTube added that the new policy was enacted to "not only cover specific routine immunizations like for measles or Hepatitis B, but also apply to general statements about vaccines."
"Personal testimonials relating to vaccines will also be allowed, so long as the video doesn't violate other Community Guidelines, or the channel doesn't show a pattern of promoting vaccine hesitancy," the company's blog post read.
As part of the policy launch, several high-profile accounts of vaccine skeptics are being pulled down. The accounts of Robert F. Kennedy’s Children’s Health Defense Fund, alternative medicine influencer Joseph Mercola and vaccine critic and physician Sherri Tenpenny will all be removed.