Some of the most powerful forms of control are the ones we don’t see. Using complex algorithms and AI, private tech giants like Alphabet that own Google and YouTube wield unseen power, filtering what we see and don’t see. This restriction of free speech, as seen in YouTube’s new medical misinformation policy, hinders critical thought and prevents diverse perspectives around natural health options from being explored. Join our friends at the Alliance for Natural Health in fighting back against curbing our rights to health speech.
What is the new policy?
YouTube’s new medical misinformation policy is the first of its kind to curb free speech and disallow content that isn’t in line with national health authorities like the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) or the World Health Organization (WHO). This censorship reached a new level during COVID, when those who raised questions about COVID vaccine safety/efficacy, or who alerted the public to alternative, natural strategies for treatment and prevention of the virus, were subject to a massive censorship campaign.
Now that the “emergency” phase of the pandemic is over, the same censorship mechanisms can be applied to other areas of health information like the benefits of ketogenic diets and intermittent fasting. This information could help millions of people be healthier, yet there is evidence that it is being “shadowbanned” by social media companies.
Shadowbanning is a new, insidious form of censorship. When content is shadowbanned, algorithms work behind the scenes to limit the exposure of certain “undesireable” content. Posts are not removed from the platform nor its creator is not notified of any violation. It simply stops showing up in people’s feeds or in suggested content. Views on health that differ from the one-size-fits-all approach favored by the CDC and the WHO can be quietly erased, and you wouldn’t even know it’s happening.
The record from the COVID pandemic shows how, time and again, the supposed health “authorities” got it wrong. Yet, evidence is piling up showing how the pandemic response put in place by the likes of the WHO and the CDC (e.g., lockdowns, isolation, masking, etc.) caused massive harm to millions of people. More than ever, we need to hear from a diverse range of voices and viewpoints.
Stop censorship of natural health information
If you care about managing your own health guided by the experts you value and the products you choose, stand with us against Big Social censorship. Free speech and public discourse is necessary to allow critical thought, informed choices and to expose falsehood. Together, we can reclaim the right to explore, question, and engage with all viewpoints.
Sign the FreeSpeech4Health petition and help get 1 million signatures calling on YouTube to alter its medical misinformation policy to allow free speech on health issues.
