YouTube Changes ‘Misleading’ Abortion Label After 16 Attorneys General Demand Removal
By Movieguide® Contributor
After 16 state attorneys general demanded YouTube remove “misleading” labels on pro-life videos, the platform changed the disclaimer.
“We are disappointed to see your platform suppress pro-life and pro-woman messages by distorting them with false information,” said the Iowa Attorney General’s office in its initial demand to YouTube CEO Neal Mohan. “Less than two years ago, more than a dozen states warned Alphabet’s CEO that Google must not discriminate against pro-life pregnancy resource centers in its search results, advertising, and other products.”
“Your notice contains false information about a central issue in a case pending before the U.S. Supreme Court,” the letter continues. “It also misleads women seeking information about abortion drugs, potentially endangering their lives.”
The initial label read:
An abortion is a procedure to end a pregnancy. It uses medicine or surgery to remove the embryo or fetus and placenta from the uterus. The procedure is done by a licensed healthcare professional.
Ultimately, the letter sent to Mohan demands “that you remove or correct the notice immediately.”
Per The Christian Post, “The attorneys general said in the letter that this was ‘false and misleading,’ as it suggested that ‘chemical abortions are performed by trained professionals. They are not.'”
Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird led AGs from Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Georgia, Indiana, Kansas, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, West Virginia and Wyoming in the fight against YouTube.
“Women deserve to know the truth about the dangers of chemical abortion pills,” said Bird. “For YouTube to attach deceptive labels to videos of women sharing their testimonies after suffering from at-home abortion drugs is a disservice to women everywhere. YouTube must end its blatant misinformation campaign that puts women at risk and quit targeting pro-life messages.”
Following the demand, YouTube changed the disclaimer, which now reads:
An abortion is a procedure to end a pregnancy. It can be done two different ways: Medication abortion, which uses medicines to end the pregnancy. It is sometimes called a “medical abortion” or “abortion with pills.” Procedural abortion, a procedure to remove the pregnancy from the uterus. It is sometimes called a “surgical abortion.”
Live Action reported, “While the disclaimer still is not entirely truthful — abortion doesn’t merely end a ‘pregnancy,’ but intentionally kills a preborn child to do so — ADF Senior Counsel Erik Baptist still applauded the change in a press release for the improvement on the previous false claim.”
“Women deserve to know the truth about the risks posed by abortion drugs, which is why first-hand accounts like the ones ADF posted on YouTube are so vital,” Baptist said. “Thanks to the leadership of state attorneys general calling out false information, YouTube has corrected its previously misleading notice.”
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