YouTube To Crack Down on Videos That Promote Unsafe Abortion Methods
YouTube’s latest effort to stop misinformation will target false claims about abortion procedures.
On Thursday, the Google-owned platform mentioned the impending crackdown, weeks after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade.
“Starting today and ramping up over the next few weeks, we will remove content that provides instructions for unsafe abortion methods or promotes false claims about abortion safety under our medical misinformation policies,” YouTube said in a tweet(Opens in a new window).
The crackdown will target content that goes against established medical practices. A support document(Opens in a new window) from Google specifically says the “promotion of alternative abortion methods in place of chemical or surgical methods deemed safe by health authorities” is an example of content now banned on YouTube.
“Like all of our policies on health/medical topics, we rely on published guidance from health authorities,” YouTube added in a follow-up tweet(Opens in a new window). “We prioritize connecting people to content from authoritative sources on health topics, and we continuously review our policies and products as real world events unfold.”
The crackdown occurs as at least eight states have already banned abortion after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. This could cause users in these states to look for ways to carry out the medical procedure, despite the new restrictions.
To steer users away from possible misinformation, YouTube is also rolling out a new information panel that’ll appear when users search for videos about the abortion topic. The goal is to supply the user with “context and information from local and global health authorities” about the procedure.
But for now, the information panel only
Read more on pcmag.com
