YouTube to crack down on abortion-related misinformation

SAN FRANCISCO: Google-owned streaming platform YouTube has announced that it will pull videos with information on unsafe abortion methods on its platform.

On the microblogging platform, YouTube said it will launch an information panel under all abortion-related videos.

"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 company wrote on Twitter.

YouTube said that it relies on published guidance from health authorities.

"Like all of our policies on health/ medical topics, we rely on published guidance from health authorities," the platform said.

"We prioritise connecting people to content from authoritative sources on health topics, and we continuously review our policies and products as real world events unfold," it added.

The platform, on its support page, said that certain types of misleading or deceptive content with a serious risk of egregious harm are not allowed on YouTube.

This includes certain types of misinformation that can cause real-world harm, like promoting harmful remedies or treatments, certain types of technically manipulated content, or content interfering with democratic processes.