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YouTube bans coronavirus-related content that directly contradicts WHO advice

bbc.com

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Re: YouTube bans coronavirus-related content that directly contradicts WHO advice

#601

Post by missosoup »

glenstein wrote: post #472
bobcostas55 wrote: post #440

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The WHO has been spreading misinformation from the start, including claims that covid does not spread from human to human after it was abundantly clear that it does[0], claims that travel bans would be unnecessary to halt its spread[1], and claims that people should not wear masks[2]. These are not mere edge cases. We have structured our public organizations in a way that gives credentialed "experts" enormous amounts…

So far as I can tell, your extremely confident, categorical interpretations of your own citations are basically mistaken, across the board. As I read [0] it is not, in fact, a blanket declaration about transmissibility. As I read [1] it is not in any way an inaccurate statement (see [3]). When read [2] it's clear that it is not a blanket declaration not to wear masks. Meanwhile Youtube is going to take down videos cl…

How you read them is irrelevant. What's relevant is that hundreds of thousands of people read the first one, took it at face value, and decided that the coronavirus is not a threat. The WHO definitely misled people with that first one, the only thing up for debate is whether it was deliberately or due to incompetent messaging.

GP comment is a bit too categorical but it's not even a contested fact that WHO initially downplayed the epidemic, put out recommendations to keep borders open, and still continues to spread disinformation e.g. about not needing to wear masks.

I won't even say anything about the string of corruption allegations and ties to China.

And then the fact that WHO basically pretended Taiwan doesn't exist[1] and is clearly aligned with Chinese political interests over even its primary mission.

Giving absolute authority over 'truth' to an entity with such a shitty track record is insane.

[1]: https://twitter.com/studioincendo/status/1243909358133473285

Re: YouTube bans coronavirus-related content that directly contradicts WHO advice

#602

Post by anigbrowl »

GordonS wrote: post #365
xupybd wrote: post #81

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's the awkward way they one representative handled a question on Taiwan. Pretending he didn't hear the question. I think it speaks more to the unwillingness of a world health organisation to even discuss politically dangerous topics.

I saw that video and was shocked that a representative from WHO would behave that way, pretending not to hear the question and hanging up... utterly childish behaviour. I mean, how the hell am I supposed to take an organisation like that seriously?

Politics are a fact of international relations. It's childish to think an international organization that depends on its member countries for funding can just completely ignore that or blow it off, rather than eat shit occasionally in order to work around it.

Sure, they can make a bold impassioned speech about how science is far beyond petty concerns like national sovereignty and so on, but this isn't a movie where a great speech suddenly brings everyone to their senses. In reality the WHO works through public health departments in nearly 200 countries and also gets its funding from governments, so if they spit int he face of sovereignty, they'll cease to exist in any meaningful way and aggregate health outcomes will definitely be worse.

Re: YouTube bans coronavirus-related content that directly contradicts WHO advice

#603

Post by cle »

manigandham wrote: post #573
kevin_thibedeau wrote: post #514

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is how all news media operated before the internet created mouthpieces for non-professionals. In addition to suppressing some inconvenient truths they filtered out crackpot ideas that have become a plague in modern times.

What exactly qualifies someone to be a "professional" who is allowed to speak? The vast majority of content I watch on Youtube is produced by independent creators covering a variety of topics with much more detail, expertise, and truth than any mainstream program.

There isn’t “qualified” and “unqualified”. It’s not that black-and-white, and I wish people would accept that more. Basically what we should be asking ourselves is “What’s the likelihood that what this person is telling me is correct?” which is much more useful, because it immediately puts the focus on what factors contribute to that.

We aren’t going to conclude anything useful until we can agree that there are good and bad tradeoffs between central information control and decentralized, and that the optimum at any given point in time probably lies somewhere in between and depends on the context in which the communication takes place.

Re: YouTube bans coronavirus-related content that directly contradicts WHO advice

#604

Post by lemmox »

EGreg wrote: post #490
CamperBob2 wrote: post #376

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Obviously it's good advice to wear masks in public when confronted with a respiratory disease capable of asymptomatic transmission for days after infection. The masks don't make any one person safer, but widespread usage makes us all safer. Trouble is, there weren't enough masks at first. It's not clear that there are now, for that matter. One of the few things Trump is correct about is that the WHO has bungled this…

The CDC guidelines you’ve linked to continue to say surgical masks should be for medical personnel. This is ridiculous!! A mask is a cloth on a string. We are how many months into this thing... why hasn’t our private industry created enough cloths on strings???? What is the shortage? Is it the cloth? It’s because the politicians were reactionary and behind on the most basic things every step of the way. Why not order…

FWIW I found reading about the process of making respirators quite fascinating. It opened up a whole world of reading about nanofibers and the melt blown process that I'd not previously stumbled upon. Turns out good masks aren't just any old fabric - producing unwoven sub-micron nanofiber fabric is quite involved and that fabric is in short supply.

Re: YouTube bans coronavirus-related content that directly contradicts WHO advice

#605

Post by reaperducer »

stcredzero wrote: post #270
logifail wrote: post #121

Current WHO advice: "If you are healthy, you only need to wear a mask if you are taking care of a person with COVID-19." [0] Where we live, due to local laws , we are now obliged to wear a mask to go shopping. Can one discuss that on YouTube, or would one be contradicting the WHO? I fear there isn't "one truth" out there, despite the content providers' and fact-checkers' attempts :( We keep trying to encourage our ki…

I fear there isn't "one truth" out there, despite the content providers' and fact-checkers' attempts :( The idea is: "We are the decent, good, people who know the truth. Now we control the platforms, so it's only well and good we control the information, and we tell the deplorable others what they can and can't say." Almost everyone in the history books as a horrible oppressor has told themselves that narrative. Many…

How are the employees of YouTube or any tech company exempt from those forces? What makes them somehow wiser or smarter than everyone else in history?

Just ask them. They'll tell you. And tell you. And tell you.

Re: YouTube bans coronavirus-related content that directly contradicts WHO advice

#606

Post by anigbrowl »

WalterBright wrote: post #74
subhobroto wrote: post #21

The road to hell is paved with good intentions. WHO is a political organization with medical leanings just like Fox News is an entertainment channel that covers newslike topics. Yes, there's a lot of information out there about SARS-COV2 and COVID-19 infections out there that are downright misleading at best and life threatening at worst. No, censoring that content including videos is NOT the role of a hosting platfo…

> just like Fox News is an entertainment channel that covers newslike topics All TV news shows are that. For example, consider the cliche about the news business "if it bleeds, it leads" which is far older than Fox News.

Some are more that than others. I'm very tired of fallacies of composition.

Re: YouTube bans coronavirus-related content that directly contradicts WHO advice

#607

Post by anigbrowl »

ColanR wrote: post #122
Pxtl wrote: post #111

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Misinformation is killing people. Given that, who should YouTube use as a source of truth? The US government? Bill Nye the Science Guy? Or should they let 4chan tell your grandma to drink bleach to fight the Rona?

4chan was taking the virus seriously back in January, when the WHO was denying the need for travel lockdowns. The misinformation coming out of the WHO is what killed people, not the early warning that 4chan gave us. Edit: note that in both replies to my comment, none of the specific facts I mentioned were responded to. The response of the countries is being blamed, the date I mentioned is being ignored; but I am comp…

4chan and terrorgram were also workshopping Corona-chan memes, entertaining the misconception that black people were immune to it, and trying to figure out ways to launch the boogaloo on the back of it.

They take it seriously in the same way that a rotating drum full of ping-pong balls happens to contain the winning lottery numbers every week. Glomming on to novelty is is the defining trait of quasi-anonymous social networks.

Re: YouTube bans coronavirus-related content that directly contradicts WHO advice

#608

Post by SquishyPanda23 »

stcredzero wrote: post #270
logifail wrote: post #121

Current WHO advice: "If you are healthy, you only need to wear a mask if you are taking care of a person with COVID-19." [0] Where we live, due to local laws , we are now obliged to wear a mask to go shopping. Can one discuss that on YouTube, or would one be contradicting the WHO? I fear there isn't "one truth" out there, despite the content providers' and fact-checkers' attempts :( We keep trying to encourage our ki…

I fear there isn't "one truth" out there, despite the content providers' and fact-checkers' attempts :( The idea is: "We are the decent, good, people who know the truth. Now we control the platforms, so it's only well and good we control the information, and we tell the deplorable others what they can and can't say." Almost everyone in the history books as a horrible oppressor has told themselves that narrative. Many…

No, the idea is "there is a massive coordinated disinformation campaign designed to make the pandemic worse, what, if anything should we do to address it?"

There are two obvious options (and lots of options in between).

(1) Do nothing. Pros: the propaganda gets clicks, which means revenue. The armchair libertarians are happy because nation states continue to have the freedom to saturate all communication channels with lies. Cons: The pandemic gets worse, mass graves continue to fill up, the US continues to destabilize politically and economically.

(2) Learn from past mistakes and address the propaganda with some sort of restrictions. Pros: limits the spread of deadly misinformation, greater chance the US remains economically and politically stable. Cons: Lost revenue. The restrictions will never be perfect. The armchair libertarians get riled up because it reminds them of a Hayek fairy tale they once read.

YouTube is part of a private company. They're under no obligation to give a platform to the propaganda arms of every world's intelligence agency.

Re: YouTube bans coronavirus-related content that directly contradicts WHO advice

#609

Post by barell »

How do we know what is best for us? What and who should we believe? It kinds of remind me how Copernicus was banned centuries ago despite now we know he was closer to truth than anyone else. If we live at his times we would say he is crazy and certainly his YouTube channel would have to be deleted but why? I guess if someone is right, he will prove it eventually. Even if it sounds crazy but the person is determined we should have right to know it and decide if we agree. Why someone esle should decide for us what we can know.

http://origins.osu.edu/milestones/february-2016-400-years-ag...

Re: YouTube bans coronavirus-related content that directly contradicts WHO advice

#610

Post by anigbrowl »

knzhou wrote: post #492
twblalock wrote: post #125

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Misinformation is killing people. How many? I don't think it's very many.

The ban is meant for 4chan-based messages like "drink bleach/rubbing alcohol/methanol to cure yourself now!", which have killed plenty of people.

Those are White House-based messages now.

https://www.history.com/news/printing-press-renaissance

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