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YouTube bans coronavirus vaccine misinformation

reuters.com

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Re: YouTube bans coronavirus vaccine misinformation

#81

Post by bmarquez »

anonymousiam wrote: post #2

This is the slippery slope of censorship on display for everyone to see. What panel of certified physicians is YouTube using to identify what information is correct vs. incorrect? I'm pretty sure they don't have any doctors doing this. The ban is a political act and not a scientific one.

> What panel of certified physicians is YouTube using to identify what information is correct vs. incorrect?

The cheapest content moderators possible, of course. Outsourced through contract agencies in foreign countries to keep costs down. I doubt anybody with a medical degree would take the job. Here's an article about the life of YouTube, Facebook and Twitter content moderators in Manila:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2019/07/25/social-...

"At the end of a shift, my mind is so exhausted that I can’t even think,” said a Twitter moderator in Manila. He said he occasionally dreamed about being the victim of a suicide bombing or a car accident, his brain recycling images that he reviewed during his shift. “To do this job, you have to be a strong person and know yourself very well." The moderators worked for Facebook, Facebook-owned Instagram, Google-owned YouTube, Twitter and the Twitter-owned video-streaming platform Periscope, as well as other such apps, all through intermediaries such as Accenture and Cognizant.

Re: YouTube bans coronavirus vaccine misinformation

#82

Post by akiselev »

pzmTWLwfwJ wrote: post #75
anonymousiam wrote: post #2

This is the slippery slope of censorship on display for everyone to see. What panel of certified physicians is YouTube using to identify what information is correct vs. incorrect? I'm pretty sure they don't have any doctors doing this. The ban is a political act and not a scientific one.

Damned if you do, damned if you don't. If these platforms don't do anything then everyone talks about how misinformation is rampant on these platforms, how dangerous it is and that nothings being done about it. If they do, then everyone's worried about censorship or blamed to be politically motivated. There could be simple legislation that defines what is and what isn't to be censored, then these platforms can adhere…

> And, while at it, also think how to thread the needle of keeping these platforms as less scammy etc. as possible, so that the people won't stop using the platforms.

Why should anyone care about these platforms' engagement metrics? What about these platforms necessitates their survival?

The assumption that Youtube is an unalloyed good for the world is a very controversial one.

Re: YouTube bans coronavirus vaccine misinformation

#83

Post by ed25519FUUU »

gymknight wrote: post #53
anonymousiam wrote: post #2

This is the slippery slope of censorship on display for everyone to see. What panel of certified physicians is YouTube using to identify what information is correct vs. incorrect? I'm pretty sure they don't have any doctors doing this. The ban is a political act and not a scientific one.

> What panel of certified physicians is YouTube using to identify what information is correct vs. incorrect? According to the article youtube's policy team meets with the WHO weekly to discuss potentially problematic videos.

So would WHO have recommended censor of videos in mid January from people claiming C19 could be spread human-to-human?

https://twitter.com/WHO/status/1217043229427761152?s=20

Re: YouTube bans coronavirus vaccine misinformation

#84

Post by uyt »

s3r3nity wrote: post #4
anonymousiam wrote: post #2

This is the slippery slope of censorship on display for everyone to see. What panel of certified physicians is YouTube using to identify what information is correct vs. incorrect? I'm pretty sure they don't have any doctors doing this. The ban is a political act and not a scientific one.

Agree on this one - authoritative bodies can be wrong / misled as well, and shouldn't be the only arbiters of truth. Ex: The WHO made many mistakes during COVID, including faulty recommendations and (alleged) influence by a governing body to limit bad press. [1] (Before the ad hominem attacks come in, I'm obviously very pro vaccine...but against censorship and generally distrust authoritative bodies of most kinds.) […

Youtube's content moderation team also has a terrible track record.

One of my favorite science channels, Cody's Lab, gets banned all the time because he has educational videos on making explosives. The guy is so family friendly he doesn't even swear in his videos.

Re: YouTube bans coronavirus vaccine misinformation

#85

Post by darawk »

akiselev wrote: post #82
pzmTWLwfwJ wrote: post #75

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Damned if you do, damned if you don't. If these platforms don't do anything then everyone talks about how misinformation is rampant on these platforms, how dangerous it is and that nothings being done about it. If they do, then everyone's worried about censorship or blamed to be politically motivated. There could be simple legislation that defines what is and what isn't to be censored, then these platforms can adhere…

> And, while at it, also think how to thread the needle of keeping these platforms as less scammy etc. as possible, so that the people won't stop using the platforms. Why should anyone care about these platforms' engagement metrics? What about these platforms necessitates their survival? The assumption that Youtube is an unalloyed good for the world is a very controversial one.

People like them. They wouldn't survive if they didn't.

Re: YouTube bans coronavirus vaccine misinformation

#86

Post by abellerose »

brink wrote: post #74

It's only a matter of time until certain unpopular religious expressions begin to be censored outright. For those who aren't concerned about censorship; it must be nice to think that your views will never be controversial.

Nothing ever good has come from religion. So not a very good example you have there.

Re: YouTube bans coronavirus vaccine misinformation

#88

Post by jhanschoo »

anonymousiam wrote: post #2

This is the slippery slope of censorship on display for everyone to see. What panel of certified physicians is YouTube using to identify what information is correct vs. incorrect? I'm pretty sure they don't have any doctors doing this. The ban is a political act and not a scientific one.

Why do you say that it's a slippery slope as opposed to, say, a (continuously evolving) policy with forces pulling in both directions?

Re: YouTube bans coronavirus vaccine misinformation

#89

Post by gizmo385 »

xienze wrote: post #20
Polylactic_acid wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Something has to be done. Obvious bullshit is fooling huge chunks of the population and causing huge damage. We have always selected acceptable content and it has usually been a positive. Schools have always picked which info to teach and what to not and that's largely a positive thing.

> Obvious bullshit is fooling huge chunks of the population and causing huge damage. “Obvious” is debatable. Hardly anyone watching scientific content of any kind is an expert in the subject matter. What the public has always relied on is some sort of authority figure lending credibility to some idea or news story. For instance, saying masks don’t work is “obvious” bullshit. But remember back in March? Our glorious l…

> But remember back in March? Our glorious leaders were urging us not to buy masks because they don’t work, and besides, doctors need them.

I think this is a bit disingenuous. First of all, you're looking back with the benefit of hindsight and the knowledge of the virus that we have today. Additionally, weren't most of the recommendations around mask wearing that people not gobble up PPE because there was such a shortage of it around the country for first responders and hospital staff? Isn't that one of the primary reasons why people across the country started making homemade masks out of t-shirts and other spare cloth?

Re: YouTube bans coronavirus vaccine misinformation

#90

Post by ReptileMan »

anonymousiam wrote: post #2

This is the slippery slope of censorship on display for everyone to see. What panel of certified physicians is YouTube using to identify what information is correct vs. incorrect? I'm pretty sure they don't have any doctors doing this. The ban is a political act and not a scientific one.

And well - the way washing hands after autopsies and before surgery to prevent infection needed 30 years to be accepted by the community (1850-1880 I think) - even panels of certified physicians could be wrong
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