Republican Senator Ron JohnsonAfter posting a video in which the congressman claimed that the coronavirus vaccine was not safe, his YouTube channel was suspended.
The Wisconsin senator will face a one-week suspension starting Friday after uploading the video in violation of YouTube’s policy on COVID-19 misinformation.
“Today’s updated number is 17,619,” Johnson said in the video of the roundtable discussion. “This is 225 times the annual number of deaths from the flu vaccine in just 10 months. These vaccine injuries are real.”
Republicans refer to the numbers from the Vaccine Adverse Reaction Reporting System (VAERS), a national self-reporting database for people to report vaccine reactions.
However, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Warned that changes in numbers “do not necessarily mean that vaccines have caused health problems” because anyone can submit them, and VAERS welcomes all reports.
“Once again, large technology companies are reviewing the truth,” Johnson said in a statement. “Why don’t they let the injured vaccine tell their story, and medical experts give a second opinion? Why can’t we discuss the harmful effects of mandatory measures? Obviously, the Biden government and federal health agencies should not be questioned. How many lives will there be? Is it needlessly destroyed?”
The second person in the video also violated YouTube’s policy, claiming that the COVID-19 vaccine cannot prevent death. The platform prohibits the dissemination of misinformation that contradicts the guidance of health authorities or content related to viruses that may cause serious harm.
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A YouTube spokesperson told Hill The video of the round table has been removed from its platform, but the shorter version is allowed to stay online.
“We make policies to reduce the risk of real-world harm, update them as official guidelines develop, and we consider the background of the video to make exceptions, and strike a balance between openly discussing people’s experiences and preventing the spread of harmful misinformation,” The spokesperson said in a statement.
If Johnson’s account violates YouTube’s policies again within 90 days, it will be suspended for two weeks. The third violation during this period will result in the channel being permanently suspended in accordance with the company’s three-strike policy.
The senator’s channel was also suspended in June for violating YouTube’s misinformation policy. Then, after posting a video of alternative treatments for the virus, his channel lost the upload permission. Johnson called the platform’s policy application a “censorship system.”
Republican Senator LandPaulOn behalf of Kentucky, August also suspended his account for falsely claiming that masks are not effective in preventing the spread of COVID-19.
Weekly newspaper Contact Johnson for comments.
