USA Today (8/15, Schulz) reported, “YouTube is set to begin cracking down on cancer treatment misinformation Tuesday, the video streaming platform’s latest in its efforts against medical misinformation.” The platform “plans to remove content that promotes cancer treatments proven to be harmful and ineffective, along with videos that discourage viewers from seeking professional medical treatments.” These “efforts begin Tuesday and are set to ramp up in the weeks to come, according to a Tuesday blog post.” The Hill (8/15, Suter) reported the blog post read, “This includes content that promotes unproven treatments in place of approved care or as a guaranteed cure, and treatments that have been specifically deemed harmful by health authorities. For instance, a video that claims ‘garlic cures cancer,’ or ‘take vitamin C instead of radiation therapy’ would be removed.” CNN (8/15, Duffy) reported that as part of this “announcement, YouTube is rolling out a broader updated medical misinformation policy framework that will consider content in three categories: prevention, treatment and denial.”
