YouTube has announced that it will delete videos from its platform if they promote the idea that there is a correlation between the spread of the COVID-19 disease and 5G networks.
New wireless technology has always allowed crackpots and conspiracy theorists to emerge and spout unsubstantiated claims, but now, YouTube will start actively suppressing the dangerous spread of misinformation on their video-hosting platform. Many videos will lose monetization options, with ads being cut entirely alongside removal from video search results.
YouTube will outright remove videos that promote 5G coronavirus conspiracy theories. However, it may allow other “borderline content” that doesn’t actively mention the coronavirus. In a statement to the the Guardian,YouTube said:
We also have clear policies that prohibit videos promoting medically unsubstantiated methods to prevent the coronavirus in place of seeking medical treatment, and we quickly remove videos violating these policies when flagged to us.
We have also begun reducing recommendations of borderline content such as conspiracy theories related to 5G and coronavirus, that could misinform users in harmful ways.
This decision has no doubt been taken due to recent arson attacks on UK wireless networking infrastructure, in which members of the British public attached what they believed were 5G sites.
Networking hardware from O2 and Vodafone was destroyed by those likely accessing conspiracy-driven content on platforms like YouTube and Facebook that have tried to claim a link between the spread of the coronavirus and the rollout of 5G networks.
Sifting through fact and fiction has become a far more difficult process, but this move will help ensure that only the correct information is made available to the general public.
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