Live data from Hacker News

YouTube bans coronavirus-related content that directly contradicts WHO advice

bbc.com

991–1000 of 1001 posts

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

#991
post #470

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> They never do away with anything besides the most harmful, hate filled rhetoric. who decides what speech is "hate filled"? this is free speech 101. what is the point of a publicly accessible social platform if people can't express themselves freely?

Free speech applies to the government, not businesses. Which is good because if it didn't there wouldn't be spam filters. Don't like their rules? Host it yourself.

Exactly, the term "free speech" has no relevance in the private sector.

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

#992
post #341

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> freedom to discuss the coronavirus Unfortunately platforms that reach billions must prioritize the danger of misinformation spreading that far and wide over allowing for every dangerous and wrong opinion. The complete and total censorship you fear never emerges, Youtube if anything is far too lenient on allowing terrible opinions to linger on their platform. They never do away with anything besides the most harmful…

Is there any reason to believe the dangers of the presumed misinformation being censored are actually significant? Is it killing more people than the Tide pod challenge for example? The article mentions taking vitamin C, and turmeric, but that just seems harmless to me. If it was just that, it’s clearly not worth banning the masks or origin discussion.

Yes telling people the virus isn't dangerous and to resume your life is how Italy got overrun. This is the misinfo being spread.

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

#993
post #989

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Then why dont you answer the question: what does qualify someone?

Actual experience in a field ?

So the opposite of mainstream journalists that know nothing about what they cover.

That's what I said in my first post.

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

#994

Youtube also demonitized Chris Martenson's channel "Peak Prosperity" back in January when it was warning about the coronavirus crisis months before the WHO posthumous announcement of there being a pandemic.

Downvoted for stating a fact? What a joke.

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

#995
post #708

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> the WHO are not a political entity so they do not want to comment at all on political issues; The WHO is very much a political entity in the pockets of the Chinese Communist Party. There's a difference between refusing to comment on Taiwan and pretending like Taiwan doesn't exist. Ignoring the political aspect, they've dealt with this crisis terribly, being slow to respond and giving downright false advice like tel…

> pretending like Taiwan doesn't exist https://www.who.int/news-room/detail/29-03-2020-information-...

Did you watch the video of the WHO representative when asked directly about Taiwan pretending like he didn't hear the question, disconnecting, and then talking about China without so much as even mentioning the word "Taiwan"? https://twitter.com/NumbersMuncher/status/124394050651140096...

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

#996

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thanks for your explanation. But one thing still confuses me.. that we should just leave the "covid is a lie" contents there despite the high possibility that it may kill people?

Yes. Censorship is worse than any falsehood that might circulate.

>Yes. Censorship is worse than any falsehood that might circulate.

That was not the question. The question was, are people losing their lives worth having no censorship of a specific topic.

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

#997
post #958

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The WHO are themselves spreading misinformation for political reasons.

They are making a calculation that a global run on masks would hurt efforts to contain spread due to shortages for medical professionals confronting the virus everyday, as opposed to general public confrontation which is more sporadic. Should they just come out and say that? Probably. Would it be effective? No people are irrational in crisis and their words wouldn't prevent the above scenario. They made a calculated…

FWIW I agree re masks but withholding information from Taiwan to appease the CCP is inexcusable. Luckily the Taiwanese are far more competent than their counterparts in this farce.

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

#998
post #992

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is there any reason to believe the dangers of the presumed misinformation being censored are actually significant? Is it killing more people than the Tide pod challenge for example? The article mentions taking vitamin C, and turmeric, but that just seems harmless to me. If it was just that, it’s clearly not worth banning the masks or origin discussion.

Yes telling people the virus isn't dangerous and to resume your life is how Italy got overrun. This is the misinfo being spread.

Yeah I agree that is very dangerous, although that is exactly what governments and most TV channels were saying at the time.

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

#999
As much as I, as a general principle, loathe the tech giants dictating what is and isn't true for the world, in this case I feel some sympathy for companies temporarily banning potentially dangerous advice from their platforms.

Yes, it isn't absolutely clear what is "good advice". Yes, it might misfire and prevent useful content from being disseminated. Yes, the WHO is far from perfect. And yet, if I were the owner of YouTube, I would have to reduce the liability of having physical harm, or even human deaths, being attributed to content served by my product — regardless of how tenuous the connection between content and action would be, and how many disclaimers and waivers surround such content.

Collectively, it's a disgrace if all digital media adopt this strategy, because we would be closing the most effective channels by which independent researchers, whistle-blowers, cutting-edge laboratories, etc can communicate with the masses. At the individual company level, limiting potential damage is the rational thing to do. There is no easy answer, I suspect.

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

#1000

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Heck, we already decided trashing the economy is worth "saving lives" (how many?), People dropping dead in the streets will trash the economy.

[citation neeeded] People die all the time. Pretending that the jury is out on the long term impacts of Covid 19 is ascientific.

Look at what happened to the Chinese stock market once pictures of people literally dropping dead in the streets of Wuhan leaked, and before there was a lockdown.
Post reply on HN