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YouTube is banning anti-vaccine activists and blocking all anti-vaccine content

washingtonpost.com

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Re: YouTube is banning anti-vaccine activists and blocking all anti-vaccine content

#281

Post by xqcgrek2 »

woodpanel wrote: post #221
xqcgrek2 wrote: post #33

They're a private company and can do whatever they want. However, one only needs to see the trending page in any country to see the kind of crap YouTube promotes and profits from. So, please spare me of the corporate propaganda for YouTube's rationale of this decision.

> "They're a private company and can do whatever they want." Flies in the face of jurisprudence accross industrialized nations, as many courts again and again ruled that a platform cannot "do whatever they wan't" if they dominate the market and thus effectively are a public space of opinion.

No, they can do what they want -- but you're right, they'll have to face the consequences.

Re: YouTube is banning anti-vaccine activists and blocking all anti-vaccine content

#282

Post by nitrogen »

nimbius wrote: post #189
mariodiana wrote: post #65

I think we have to ask if this won't have a chilling effect on open discussion by moderate voices. I'm subscribed to the channel of an M.D. on YouTube who discusses COVID-19, vaccines, etc. He is very careful to (repeatedly) point out that he is vaccinated, he has personally vaccinated hundreds of patients, he encourages everyone to speak to their doctor and follow their recommendations, believing that the vaccine is…

>I think we have to ask if this won't have a chilling effect on open discussion by moderate voices first, youtube isnt where open discussion by moderate voices happens. Its a cavalcade of endlessly random videos promoting everything from free energy to colloidal silver cures and get rich quick schemes. Second, the topic of conversation is vaccination methodology during an ongoing pandemic in which a sizeable quantity…

the concept of an "anti-vaccine activist" is puerile and absolutely should be banned.

This type of categorical banning from public discussion never works. It just creates martyrs.

There's an object lesson they sometimes do in university classes or corporate retreats where two people are asked to push against each other's hands. It usually ends with "why are you pushing so hard?" "Because you were pushing so hard."

There's a human instinct that many of us have that is basically "fight makes right." That is, when vehemence in opposition to a thing goes beyond a certain point, the vehemence becomes "evidence" that the thing being opposed must have some legitimacy to it, or else there wouldn't be so much energy dedicated to opposing it.

Re: YouTube is banning anti-vaccine activists and blocking all anti-vaccine content

#284

Post by _hilro »

mariodiana wrote: post #65

I think we have to ask if this won't have a chilling effect on open discussion by moderate voices. I'm subscribed to the channel of an M.D. on YouTube who discusses COVID-19, vaccines, etc. He is very careful to (repeatedly) point out that he is vaccinated, he has personally vaccinated hundreds of patients, he encourages everyone to speak to their doctor and follow their recommendations, believing that the vaccine is…

MD is a just a general doctor correct? So, who is he to make that proclamation:

> Months ago he was insisting that the people who had contracted COVID-19 and who had antibodies in their system may not need the vaccine. Now, we have a number of studies coming out to support that. But months ago that was "anti-vax" (employing the slanderous use of the term).

He doesn't have the expertise to say this.

Re: YouTube is banning anti-vaccine activists and blocking all anti-vaccine content

#285

Post by btmiller »

ceejayoz wrote: post #250
andreskytt wrote: post #239

Free speech used to mean the right to say anything without persecution. Does it now mean the right to have ones opinion be actively globally distributed by a third party? This is very much about fighting two viruses: one biological and the other one informational. We agree to limit contacts between people to stop the one but do not accept the same method to stop the other. Why? In both cases it is vital to ensure the…

> Free speech used to mean the right to say anything without persecution. It never meant that. People have always been similarly free to say "that guy is a dick, we shouldn't invite him to our get togethers" based on your free speech.

I think you’re saying exactly what OP was implying. Persecution as in legal consequences. “You can say whatever you want, but we’re going to ask you to leave our private establishment”.

Re: YouTube is banning anti-vaccine activists and blocking all anti-vaccine content

#286

Post by BuyMyBitcoins »

TeMPOraL wrote: post #249
listless wrote: post #174

My wife is very vaccine hesitant, and every time they make a move like this to block content or take it down, it only strengthens her position. She thinks they’re taking it down because they don’t want people to know the truth. The only thing worse than bad ideas is the suppression of bad ideas. It’s tragic that we knew this at some point, but are going to have to figure it all back out again the hard way.

> She thinks they’re taking it down because they don’t want people to know the truth. The sad truth is, they do this just because of fucking ad revenue . There's no grand conspiracy against, or even for anti-vaccination movements. It's just people selling the world for a quick buck. And some people are still shooting me weird looks when I keep telling them that advertising is a cancer on modern society.

I’m not so sure. I can’t help but think a good proportion of Google/YouTube employees truly believe they are saving lives and fighting “misinformation” with this move. To me, citing lost ad revenue is a convenient scapegoat for what these partisan folks wanted to do the whole time.

Re: YouTube is banning anti-vaccine activists and blocking all anti-vaccine content

#287

Post by specialist »

deelowe wrote: post #134

Of course it will. Welcome to the new propaganda. Same as the old propaganda. Free speech is the act of standing up for those who you disagree with simply because you believe they have the right to be heard. In today's world of "woke" content creators, everyone seems to miss this point. What started out as fairly clear cut issues such as racism and homophobia has now bled into grey areas around vaccines and gain of f…

> ...In today's world of "woke" content creators

Welcome to the new woke. Same as the old woke.

Lather, rinse, repeat.

Re: YouTube is banning anti-vaccine activists and blocking all anti-vaccine content

#289

Post by rmu09 »

mrcrypto2020 wrote: post #235

We know vaccinated people still replicate and transmit the virus. So the only reason to get the vaccine is to potentially lessen the symptoms. With lessened symptoms you will be less likely to add to the clogged up the hospital system. Should we also ban food ads that contribute to obese or diabetic folks clogging up the hospitals? What about people choosing to ride motorcycles? Kids trampoline ads? Why do we still h…

Even if some vaccinated people replicate and transmit the virus, they do so for a shorter amount of time and with less infectious virus than unvaccinated.

Re: YouTube is banning anti-vaccine activists and blocking all anti-vaccine content

#290

Post by ohdannyboy »

I was hesitant for a while and the massive censorship was part of it. I got vaccinated in May and have convinced others to get the shot since the side effects, while existent, appear to be minor compared to the reduction in harmful symptoms. Talking to my doctor is what did it for me. He cleared up most of my concerns and pressed me that my remaining concerns were too nebulous to be useful. If he just said "shut up and take it" I wouldn't have.

My mother only got vaccinated last month. She and my father are both medical professionals (she's retired and my dad got it early on since he's super high risk). Her main hangup was the lies and coercion. She believed that if the vaccine was actually as great as they're saying they'd be able to make more objective goalposts and win arguments instead of stopping them because the other side is too stupid to make their own decisions. I'm confident there was also some element of "if I get it now I'm telling them their tactics worked."

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