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Western media channel banned from YouTube for Covid misinformation

WION Web Team
Sydney, AustraliaUpdated: Aug 01, 2021, 03:31 PM IST
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These websites and channels had a total of 2.6 billion subscribers and were running fake news against India. Photograph:(Reuters)

Story highlights

Some of the questioned posts included videos where it was questioned by the Sky News Australia group whether the coronavirus pandemic existed or not and if the said efficacy of the vaccines was real

Online video platform, YouTube, has announced that it has banned Sky News Australia from uploading any new content on the website for a week after it allegedly posted misinformation about coronavirus.

"We have clear and established Covid-19 medical misinformation policies... to prevent the spread of Covid-19 misinformation that could cause real-world harm," a statement by YouTube read.

This ban comes after YouTube reviewed some posts that were uploaded by the channel on the platform. Some of the questioned posts included videos where it was questioned by the Sky News Australia group whether the coronavirus pandemic existed or not and if the said efficacy of the vaccines was real.

In addition to these, YouTube videos of Sky News Australia also claimed that the lockdowns have been a failure, and also critiqued Sydney government for extending the ongoing lockdowns in the city.

These videos were widely circulated on different social media platforms which can reportedly, add to the existing vaccine hesitancy and also make people take coronavirus pandemic as a joke.

"We support broad discussion and debate on a wide range of topics and perspectives which is vital to any democracy," Sky News’s spokesperson said, confirming the temporary ban. "We take our commitment to meeting editorial and community expectations seriously."

YouTube has, for now, kept Sky News on the first strike punishment, The video platform follows a ‘three strikes’ policy with regard to violations. The first strike leads to a week’s suspension, the second strike within 90 days leads to a two-week ban and the third strike is permanent removal from YouTube.