YouTube announced on Monday that they have removed an interview with the Democratic presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. for allegedly violating their policy on “vaccine misinformation.”
The video in question features Kennedy, a well-known opponent of vaccines, speaking with podcast host Jordan Peterson.
“We removed a video from the Jordan Peterson channel for violating YouTube’s general vaccine misinformation policy, which prohibits content that alleges that vaccines cause chronic side effects, outside of rare side effects that are recognized by health authorities,” YouTube said in a statement.
Which begs the question: why does a company run predominantly by tech nerds even have a vaccine misinformation policy to begin with?
YouTube did not state specifically which claims by Kennedy were in violation of their policy.
YouTube says it has removed a video of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. speaking with podcast host Jordan Peterson for spreading what the company says is vaccine misinformation. https://t.co/ESDZ2zNCpC
— NBC News (@NBCNews) June 19, 2023
Biden’s Top Democrat Primary Opponent Robert Kennedy Jr. Censored By YouTube For ‘Vaccine Misinformation’
YouTube’s “vaccine misinformation policy” can be found here. It was implemented in 2021, meaning it was meant to apply almost exclusively to COVID vaccine “misinformation.”
Or rather, alleged “conspiracy theories” that ultimately turned out to be proven facts about the pandemic.
Kennedy has been an ardent vaccine skeptic since well before 2021, but now he’s running for President.
Kennedy took to another social media platform, Twitter, to post the video and challenge YouTube – or anybody else for that matter – to point to the “vaccine misinformation.”
“Maybe you can help me figure out what ‘misinformation’ was in this interview,” Kennedy tweeted.
What do you think … Should social media platforms censor presidential candidates? My conversation with @JordanBPeterson was deleted by @YouTube. Luckily you can watch it here on @Twitter (thank you @elonmusk). #Kennedy24https://t.co/PJFKWH6zmd
— Robert F. Kennedy Jr (@RobertKennedyJr) June 18, 2023
Peterson slammed YouTube for taking it “upon itself to actively interfere with a presidential election campaign.”
Now @YouTube has taken upon itself to actively interfere with a presidential election campaign @RobertKennedyJr https://t.co/XmgOYTl3NN
— Dr Jordan B Peterson (@jordanbpeterson) June 18, 2023
RELATED: Trump Announces Free Speech Plan to ‘Dismantle and Destroy’ the Left-Wing Censorship Cartel
Election Interference?
Kennedy has previously stated that his skepticism over vaccines stems from safety issues.
“I am pro-vaccine,” he said in a book he published in 2015. “I had all six of my children vaccinated. I believe that vaccines have saved the lives of hundreds of millions of humans over the past century and that broad vaccine coverage is critical to public health. But I want our vaccines to be as safe as possible.”
In a statement to Fox News, he added that while his vaccine stance is not a part of his campaign, he’s happy to discuss safety issues, especially those concerning the multi-pronged COVID “vaccines.”
“There are troubling indications in published research of serious safety issues with vaccines in general, but especially the Covid shots,” his campaign stated.
And people thought censoring political candidates would end at Trump.
— Muscles McSexington (@MusclesMcSexy) June 19, 2023
To Peterson’s argument, besides sharing information on vaccines that runs contrary to the status quo, Kennedy is also a Democrat candidate for President.
And some would argue, censoring his views seems an awful lot like YouTube is trying to halt the momentum of his campaign. Momentum that nearly led CNN’s Jake Tapper to have an aneurysm.
Tapper had informed his audience recently that Kennedy, according to his network’s own poll, is supported by a stunning 20% of Democrat or Democrat-leaning independents in the primary.
Watch: CNN’s Jake Tapper says its new poll is “horrible news” for Biden, showing a whopping 66% of Americans say a 2024 win for Joe would be a “disaster” or a “setback” for the country. pic.twitter.com/nBcuukh55r
— TV News Now (@TVNewsNow) May 26, 2023
Conservative radio host Dan Bongino was banned from YouTube last year for allegedly violating COVID vaccine “misinformation” policies.
Bongino though, who has nearly 3 million followers on Rumble, a competing video platform, didn’t seem all that heartbroken about the ban. He blasted YouTube as “full of liberal slobs who would love nothing more than to see censorship enacted” and “conservatives and Republicans banned from speaking out about liberty and freedom.”
That censorship push has now roped in a prominent Democrat, meaning YouTube is more about opposing liberty and freedom than they are about opposing “vaccine misinformation.”
They were never going to stop at Donald Trump. They will only stop once everybody is in line with “the Science” – their Science.
It should be noted that Dr. Anthony Fauci, one of the biggest purveyors of vaccine misinformation in the country during his tenure, has never had a video banned from YouTube.
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