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| YouTube has issued dozens of bans over the past two years, several over Covid but most for hate speech. (Photo by= Reuters) |
[Asia News = Reporter Reakkana] YouTube has barred Sky News Australia from uploading new content for a week, saying it had breached rules on spreading Covid-19 misinformation, BBC reported. It issued a "strike" under its three-strike policy, the last of which means permanent removal.
YouTube didn’t reveal specific items but said it opposed material that "could cause real-world harm". The TV channel's digital editor said the decision was a disturbing attack on the ability to think freely. A YouTube statement said it had "clear and established Covid-19 medical misinformation policies based on local and global health authority guidance". A spokesperson told the Guardian it "did not allow content that denies the existence of Covid-19" or which encouraged people "to use hydroxychloroquine or ivermectin to treat or prevent the virus". Neither has been proven to be effective against Covid.
Sky News Australia is owned by a subsidiary of Rupert Murdoch's News Corp and has 1.85 million YouTube subscribers. The ban could affect its revenue stream from Google. Sky News Australia said it had found old videos that didn’t comply with YouTube's policies and took its "commitment to meeting editorial and community expectations seriously". But it denied any of its hosts had ever denied the existence of Covid-19.
