Facebook and YouTube aggressively searched and deleted a conspiracy theory video called 'Plandemic'

A 25-minute clip from an upcoming documentary, featuring the world famous anti-vaccine conspiracy theorist, has been viewed millions of times over the past week on social media. before Facebook and YouTube decided to remove it from their platforms. On Thursday, Facebook said the documentary violated its policies by spreading potentially high-risk content that wearing a mask could make you sick. According to DigitalTrends , the clip now has more than 1.8 million views and 150,000 shares shared on Facebook. It was also viewed millions of times on YouTube before being wiped out for violating policies related to spreading false information about COVID-19.

Reportedly, anti-vaccine activists have gained millions of views on social media platforms through spreading conspiracy theories about COVID-19. The incident was not a surprise either: anti-vaccine activists sought to reach a wider audience in the middle of a pandemic through the same tactics as YouTubers. famous used to increase views. They conduct interviews with more powerful, more mainstream YouTubers, penetrate emerging trends, encourage fans to increase message sharing, and build a presence on all social platforms. they can find. Renee DiResta, a researcher at the Stanford Internet Observatory, specializes in fighting against the spread of false information,said last week that if anti-vaccine activists felt they were "able to create content that people would find if they searched for a specific keyword," they would invest time in that.

When "Plandemic" copies began to disappear from YouTube, supporters bombed Twitter with claims that they were unfairly censored. This documentary then became a famous hashtag on Thursday, attracting more attention, indignation, and media attention.

Potential risk

"Plandemic", along with other conspiracy theory videos, contains many inaccurate claims, which can lead people to try ineffective, sometimes dangerous, or even encouraging treatments. ignore community health guidelines to ensure safety. Judy Mikovits, a famous anti-vaccine character appearing in "Plandemic", told YouTuber Patrick Bet-David in a lengthy discussion last week that a flu vaccine from the mid-2010s was the cause of During a pandemic, wearing a mask will activate the virus in the body, and that Anthony Fauci should be closed to treason. Some of those claims were echoed in the clip, which was supposedly only a short part of a slightly longer documentary.

Judy Mikovits in the "Plandemic" video

How to prevent it

Experts have said that some solutions are being implemented by platforms, such as eradicating false content or extremist views, promoting trustworthy information in content. suggestions and searches, and providing information boxes in videos or articles with important information, may be of some help. But platforms like YouTube and Facebook have struggled to quickly apply such policies to prevent videos like "Plandemic" from being shared and widely viewed as mentioned above. There is another challenge: misinformation, especially misinformation about health issues, will proliferate when there is too little or no relevant information available. This is a particularly accurate issue during the current pandemic,when doctors and scientists were still racing to understand an epidemic that six months ago never existed. If conspiracy theorists are the people behind most of the content related to specific search ideas or keywords, then people searching for those keywords out of curiosity will inadvertently be get into a bunch of content coming from unreliable sources, because that's how the search algorithm works.because that's how the search algorithm works.because that's how the search algorithm works.

Some doctors have worked hard to fill those gaps: they become influential people on their own, addressing common misinformation for a large number of their followers. on platforms where those ideas are being spread. Zubin Damania, a doctor and a YouTuber, uploaded a video titled "A Doctor Reacts To 'Plandemic'" (A physician responding to Plandemic) to his YouTube channel earlier this week.

" It's crazy, " - he said in the video. " Don't waste time watching it (Plandemic). Don't waste time sharing it. Don't waste time talking about it. I can't believe I'm wasting time doing this. But I just want everything." People don't text me asking about it. " Damania's video currently has more than 1.3 million views. If you are interested, you can watch the video below.

A Doctor Reacts To 'Plandemic "