Is YouTube Censoring Videos That Encourage People to Take Natural Supplements?

Not unless the videos claim that such supplements can cure COVID-19.

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A viral Instagram post claims that “YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki made a public statement advising that those who tell people to use natural supplements like Vitamin C or Turmeric are now considered to be violating YouTube’s policies, and their videos will be removed.” The post claims this is evidence of YouTube’s “war on natural health” because “the system doesn’t want people taking natural supplements to boost their health and immunity.”

The image leaves out important context: Wojcicki’s comments were not about videos promoting the use of vitamin C or turmeric in general, but specifically about videos telling people that such supplements could be used to cure them of COVID-19. During an interview with CNN in April, Wojcicki discussed how YouTube was dealing with misinformation related to coronavirus and explained that YouTube would remove “anything that is medically unsubstantiated, so people saying like ‘take vitamin c,’ you know, ‘take turmeric,’ like ‘those will cure you.’” She also stated “anything that would go against World Health Organization recommendations would be a violation of our policy.” This policy was met with some criticism for its deference to WHO, which was slow to react to coronavirus and made statements about the virus which it later had to reverse.

Given that Wojcicki’s comments about vitamin C and turmeric came during a segment about how YouTube was approaching coronavirus misinformation, it’s clear that she meant videos promoting such supplements as a cure or treatment for coronavirus would be taken down, not that YouTube would disallow videos encouraging regular use of the supplements. 

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  1. rob

    First of all I like trying different supplements, and I NEVER see a video that says "this will cure you". Everyone knows that these supplements are not a cure, but I find some of them to be helpful.

    Second, the W.H.O. has proven itself to be a complete disgrace with hwhatever the heck happened in wuhan. Covid-19 is said to come from a bat 1000 miles away (that apparently bit a pangolin that is not native to that region of china), and the disease is shown to spread especially well in mink (a close relative to ferrets, the animal that is used the most in gain of function research). As Dr Bret Weinstein said a zoonotic virus is not likely to pass to break out in the way covid-19 did. And we are just taking the good word of the CCP that this lab had nothing to do with it. It should be called the wuhan virus. Covid-19 is also a nonsensical name for a virus. The W.H.O. has refused to help the people of Taiwan because of the W.H.O.s relationship with the CCP and Tedros has done the bidding of the socialist regime in his home country of ethoipia. We should not spend one additional dollar for the W.H.O. and not be forced to live under their dictates. Google IS the propaganda regime of the CCP in the United States.

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    CynthiaW

    I use garlic for everything.

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    Tom B.

    [Quackery ahead]: Let's get you some colloidal silver. Silver can isolate and destroy COVID-19. Wait, that turned your skin blue? Okay, nevermind the silver (I've got some more for sale if you want). The root cause of all disease was cellular inflammation, so that's got to be what causes your body to be vulnerable to COVID-19 too. If you just do this juice cleanse, take a *ton* of expensive supplements, and do some coffee enemas that you could detoxify the body will probably make you invulnerable to COVID-19. Whoops, I mean that didn't work but new research shows that the root cause of all disease is intracellular hypoxia, and that if you just breath some enhanced oxygen air and drink some food grade hydrogen peroxide it will cure all of your incurable disease by oxygenating the body? [Note: H2O2 is used to induce oxidative stress in research labs and seems to damage DNA, so this could potentially cause cancer.] Darn it, just not enough Woo. Okay, listen up. The government suppresses the Miracle Mineral Supplement, which is sovereign over all afflictions (Big Pharma, you see, cannot stand all the patients getting cured of "incurable diseases" all the time). If you take it [NOTE: DRINKING BLEACH] it will surely prevent or cure COVID-19. Your medical doctor won't tell you this. Big Pharma won't tell you this. They don't understand or want to understand disease. They just want to profit off of your continual sickness. But I, **I** will get you well. Make sure you only get all of your health information from me, not from those liars in mainstream medicine (or "Sick Care" as I like to call it).

    **These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. These products are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease.** [That makes it all okay, right?]

    I'm happy to see YouTube cracking down on the COVID-19 misinformation from alternative "healthcare" and snake oil salespersons. I will note that the nonsense these quacks are pushing for COVID-19 is basically the same as the claims that get made (and let slide) for a host of other diseases.

    To be honest, the whole "natural supplements" industry is rife with misinformation and nonsense, and ought to have the crap regulated out of it.

    The 1994 Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act, which regulates supplements, is an absolute disaster of a law, and is a near textbook example of a law that protects the interests of big business (the dietary supplements industry) while actively harming the general public. (The fact that the law was sold in Congress as enabling consumer choice just makes it that much more ironic).

    Just a single, relatively gentle, writeup: https://www.cancer.org/treatment/treatments-and-side-effects/complementary-and-alternative-medicine/dietary-supplements/fda-regulations.html

    Hell, supplement companies know what a disaster it is. Their sales reps want to make sure you know that THEIR supplements are of the highest possible quality, while their unregulated competitors use dangerous, unverified, untested herbs and rancid oils in their products. This is of course, very important, because it can be used to justify spending hundreds of dollars per month on high-quality supplements at your chiropractor's office (a nice revenue stream for a "doctor" with med-school level debt, but median wage about 1/3 that of a medical doctor).

    Orrin Hatch, whose incestuous and mutually beneficial relationship with the supplement industry clearly had nothing to do with his defense of the supplement industry from any meaningful regulation, retired from Congress in 2019 and been replaced by Mitt Romney. Tom Harkin, who ardently supported quackery in all its forms and co-sponsored DHSEA with Hatch, retired in 2015.

    Let's hope that during the Biden administration, Congress advances some meaningful legislation to properly regulate the supplements industry. The last real attempt I know of was the Dietary Supplement Safety Act of 2010, which John McCain sponsored which died in Congress (thanks Orrin and Tom!)

    And to those who want to understand political misinformation campaigns, cults of personality, and how they affect people, I might suggest studying up on the "alternative medicine" ecosystem.

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    Kaitlin Johnson

    Ok this is interesting... the little graphic there shows a free world against a state-controlled world, and also maps onto a health vs unhealthy world. The CEO of Whole Foods is a libertarian type. Are these just hippy libertarians or is that a significantly intellectual strain?

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    Not Jonah Goldberg

    Ah yes, non-political kookiness. How refreshing.

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