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YouTube to Censor Abortion “Misinformation,” Concerning Pro-Life Advocates

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YouTube to Censor Abortion “Misinformation,” Concerning Pro-Life Advocates

By Movieguide® Contributor

On Thursday, YouTube’s PR Twitter account announced that the company will censor videos containing abortion-related “misinformation,” from content providing unsafe abortion instructions to videos on abortion-related topics broadly.

YouTubeInsider posted, “Starting today and ramping up over the next few weeks, we will remove content that provides instructions for unsafe abortion methods or promotes false claims about abortion safety under our medical misinformation policies.”

The account explained that “Content that promotes harmful substances, treatments, or substances that present an inherent risk of severe bodily harm or death” will be censored.

Other big tech companies have experience pressure regarding the accessibility of abortion-related information. In June, Democrat lawmakers urged Google to limit and label pro-life centers, as Movieguide® previously reported.

YouTube’s Twitter account continued to explain its new policy: “Like all of our policies on health/medical topics, we rely on published guidance from health authorities. We prioritize connecting people to content from authoritative sources on health topics, and we continuously review our policies & products as real world events unfold.”

Their final tweet concluded, “We’re also launching an information panel that provides viewers with context and information from local and global health authorities under abortion-related videos and above relevant search results.”

This newest misinformation policy joins YouTube’s existing misinformation policies on Covid-19, vaccines and elections and will possibly continue the trend among many big tech companies to leverage their power against opposing views, often censoring pro-life ads and information.

For example, in 2020, Facebook initially banned an ad from Susan B. Anthony-Pro Life America, which claimed that then-candidates Joe Biden and Kamala Harris supported abortion until the moment of birth. Facebook eventually reversed the ban.

Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America responded to YouTube’s announcement, saying, “Videos sharing instructions for dangerous self-managed abortions are deeply concerning and a threat to the health and safety of women as well as their developing child. We are glad YouTube has decided to review this type of content and hope they will take appropriate action.”

However, the group added, “When it comes to public discourse on issues such as abortion that are far from settled in the minds and hearts of the American people, YouTube and other Silicon Valley giants must not position themselves as the arbiter of truth.”

Movieguide® previously reported on harmful abortion instructions: 

After pro-choice advocates disapproved of the Supreme Court ruling to overturn Roe v. Wade, users on the popular video-sharing platform TikTok suggested taking various herbs to induce menstruation or cause a miscarriage.

Users claim that using herbs like pennyroyal, mugwort, blue cohosh and garnish parsley could act as an “herbal abortion.”

But medical experts are warning people not to follow this TikTok trend.

“My hard-line position, for 35 years, has been that they are not reliably effective,” Dr. Aviva Romm, a women’s health physician, midwife and herbalist wrote. “And the doses of the herbs that one would have to take for it to possibly be effective are so high that they are virtually always toxic to the pregnant person [and the fetus].”

Dr. Aviva also encouraged people not to “listen to what you hear on TikTok.”

Leslie Rae, an herbalist, added in a video on TikTok, “When you get online and you’re telling people, ‘Oh, you can take X, Y and Z to end a pregnancy,’ do you know how to prepare that herb? Do you know how to dose it? Do you know what parts of the plant to use?”

“TikTok witches and fake herbalists: Please stop giving people advice on abortifacient herbs,” she said.

Many TikTok users pointed to the historical roots of “herbal abortions.”

However, Dr. Jen Gunter discouraged people from using ancient abortion methods.

“Using this kind of information from thousands of years ago is no different than taking a map from when people believed the Earth was flat and that we had sea monsters and using it to plot modern shipping routes,” Dr. Gunter said.

“I don’t care if something comes out of the ground or comes out of the lab,” Dr. Gunter said. “Does it work? And is it safe? That’s what I care about.”

Abortion is never safe, and the TikTok trend could cause more distress as people believe the lies the mainstream media promotes about abortion.