
YouTube Just Demonetized Anti-Vax Channels - DoreenMichele
https://www.buzzfeednews.com/carolineodonovan/youtube-just-demonetized-anti-vax-channels
======
tareqak
Posted here with a slightly different URL:
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19230245](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19230245)
.

------
meken
I was scrolling through amazon video rental last night and I was surprised to
see an anti-vax documentary in their “highest rated” section. When I clicked
“more movies like this”, there were dozens of similar documentaries that came
up.

~~~
boardwaalk
I've seen this too. I wonder if this is a related problem of "people who
bother to write product reviews are much more likely to be the ones with
problems."

E.g. "Nearly the only people who watch and rate dead serious conspiracy theory
documentaries are those looking to confirm their beliefs."

I would say someone should organize people to mass one star these dangerous
things, but Amazon should really have the sense to not buy the rights in the
first place.

------
illumin8
Wait, you mean they just barely demonetized them? As in, they've been paying
them for clicks this entire time, even after all of the measles outbreaks the
last few months?

Crazy... to think YouTube execs had no clue that there is a direct correlation
to the media they help propagate and the outbreak of previously cured
diseases!

~~~
buboard
> there is a direct correlation to the media they help propagate and the
> outbreak

interesting, has someone studied that?

------
willart4food
> After advertisers complained about programmatic ad placements on anti-vax
> videos, YouTube removed ads on videos that advocate against vaccination.

uhmm, OK so it's "only" demonetization, but it's driven by Big Business.

How long before Big Business decides who is allowed the right of Free Speech
and who is not?

Just sayin...

~~~
duxup
Free speech doesn't mean someone has to host your speech.

~~~
bitL
If someone has 99% of the market and there is no publicly available (i.e. to
anyone) competing service, it effectively turns into free speech limitation
(not legally, just effectively).

~~~
bduerst
When you say _market_ in this hypothetical, what are you referring to? Video?
Cable? Newspaper? Radio? Internet? Print? All of the above?

Movie Theaters effectively have their markets cornered, should they be forced
to host your speech even if they don't want to?

