YouTube has updated its policies to restrict certain kinds of supposed misinformation about abortion, as pro-abortion pressure on tech companies continues.
YouTube will now remove content around the world that supposedly “‘promotes or provides instructions’ for unsafe or alternative abortion methods not supported by science or approved by medical professionals,” Axios reported Thursday. It is unclear whether information about pro-life alternatives such as pregnancy centers, which some leftists have dubbed “anti-abortion fake clinics,” will fall under this new rule.
Axios said that YouTube will also start removing supposedly “false claims” about abortion, including evidence linking abortion to infertility or cancer.
YouTube policies ban, “Promotion of alternative abortion methods in place of chemical or surgical methods deemed safe by health authorities.” The policy also bans, “Content that contradicts local health authorities’ or WHO guidance on certain safe medical practices.”
The updated misinformation policy raises questions of what types of content will be affected.
Will the new policy also target so-called “misinformation” around what leftists believe the definition of abortion encompasses? For example, will YouTube target users who falsely claim that abortion is a treatment for an ectopic pregnancy?
Will the policy prohibit content that promotes alternative resources for pregnant women who opt not to have abortions?
YouTube did not respond to an MRC Free Speech America email that asked these questions.
But Axios published YouTube’s corporate lip service: “We believe it’s important to connect people to content from authoritative sources regarding health topics, and we continuously review our policies and products as real world events unfold,” Axios quoted a YouTube spokesperson as saying.
Pro-abortion groups and lawmakers have recently pressed Big Tech companies to censor pro-life content and promote pro-abortion content.
Conservatives are under attack. Contact your representatives and demand that Big Tech be held to account to mirror the First Amendment. If you have been censored, contact us at the Media Research Center contact form, and help us hold Big Tech accountable.
