YouTube removed video of Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. for violating vaccine misinformation policy

By Clare Duffy, CNN

New York (CNN) — YouTube said on Monday that it had removed a video of presidential hopeful Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. being interviewed by podcast host Jordan Peterson for violating its policy prohibiting vaccine misinformation.

A YouTube spokesperson told CNN that the platform removed the video from Peterson’s channel because it does not allow “content that alleges that vaccines cause chronic side effects, outside of rare side effects that are recognized by health authorities.”

The platform’s latest move comes as Kennedy, an environmental lawyer and anti-vaccine activist, has gained more mainstream attention with his views and recently had his account reinstated on Instagram as a result of his long-shot presidential campaign.

YouTube began cracking down broadly on vaccine misinformation in 2021, following an earlier policy preventing false or misleading claims about Covid-19. At the time, YouTube said it would remove the channels of “several well-known vaccine misinformation spreaders,” including one belonging to the Children’s Health Defense, a group affiliated with Kennedy. (The YouTube channel for Kennedy’s presidential campaign remains active.)

Under its policy, YouTube removes false claims about currently administered vaccines that the World Health Organization and local authorities have approved and confirmed to be safe.

Although YouTube removed the video, it remains available on Twitter, showing the fractured approach to vaccine misinformation across the internet as his campaign gets underway.

In a tweet on Sunday, Kennedy noted YouTube’s removal of the video saying, “What do you think … Should social media platforms censor presidential candidates?”

Kennedy also gained attention for his anti-vaccine views on a different podcast this week.

On Monday, prominent vaccine scientist Peter Hotez said he was accosted outside of his home after a Twitter exchange with podcaster Joe Rogan, who challenged Hotez to debate Kennedy over the weekend.

Hotez had tweeted in support of a Vice article criticizing Spotify’s handling of vaccine misinformation in an interview with Kennedy on Rogan’s show. After Twitter owner Elon Musk and hedge fund manager Bill Ackman weighed in, Hotez said he was “stalked in front of my home by a couple of antivaxxers.”

Kennedy suggested to Hotez that they have a “respectful, congenial, informative debate.” Hotez said he would go on Rogan’s podcast but would not debate Kennedy.

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