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Starting Today, Anti-Vaxxers Are Not Welcome on YouTube

To enforce the new policy, YouTube plans to use a three-strikes system. After the third offense within a 90-day period, an account will be permanently suspended. But if one offense is especially flagrant or if the “channel is dedicated to a policy violation,” the suspension will occur immediately.

Public health officials say anti-vaxxers use the internet to seed skepticism, which has led to slowing rates of COVID-19 vaccination. Only about 56 percent of Americans who are eligible for the shots are fully vaccinated, according to recent data.

Anti-Vaxxers Say They’re Being Censored

In a statement regarding YouTube’s new policy, Kennedy says, “Free speech is the essential core value of liberal democracy. All other rights and ideals rest upon it. There is no instance in history when censorship has been beneficial for either democracy or public health.” The longtime anti-vaccine activist is founder and chairman of Children’s Health Defense, which shares legal resources to fight pandemic-related mandates.

Mercola, an osteopath who sells alternative health products, tweeted a response about YouTube banning his channel. “The world is becoming increasingly aware of the rampant corruption in the media, and are rising up against tyrannical governments and the pharmaceutical industry that are coordinating this assault on our freedom and civil rights,” he says. “Anyone who asks questions or challenges the hard sell is immediately censored on social media.” Mercola warns that “dissenting Americans, both vaccinated and unvaccinated…are not going to stand by and do nothing.” He adds, “We will stand together and restore our freedoms.”

Last month, when YouTube suspended Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul for one week for his comments about face masks, he called it a “badge of honor.”

The nonprofit group Center for Countering Digital Hate identified 12 sources it says are responsible for 65% of vaccine misinformation on social media. Kennedy and other anti-vaxxers, however, accuse the government and health officials of spreading misinformation “from the top down.” They say authorities regularly overstate the severity of COVID-19 and understate the severity of vaccine side effects.

Does Social Media Use Pick-and-Choose Policing?

Some critics and free-speech experts say online platforms are discriminating against certain beliefs. For example, in April YouTube permanently suspended theDove, a Christian media network that made statements about the pandemic as well as the LGBTQ community.

Others point out that YouTube tolerates some rather objectionable material.