Politics

YouTube removes video of County Commission meeting

By Bill Moss, Published: June 17, 2021

YouTube has removed the video of Wednesday's meeting of the Henderson County Board of Commissioners in which 12 speakers implored commissioners not to support Covid vaccination campaigns or spend any county money promoting the shots.

The speakers in often emotional remarks during the public comment period at the top of the meeting alleged a vast global conspiracy around the vaccination campaign, blamed the media for promoting shots, mask wearing and other public health measures, accused the county Health Department of trying to cover up facts displayed on a "war room" whiteboard and said the Covid-19 vaccinations, rather than protecting people, cause myriad forms of physiological damage.

"News to me," County Russ Burrell responded in an email when the Lightning contacted him about the YouTube notice late Thursday afternoon.

"We'll figure it out. I have no idea which portion of the meeting they're editing," he said later in an interview. "Asked whether YouTube may have removed the video because of the comments on Covid-19 and the vaccinations to prevent it, he said, "Obviously I don't know. We'll be  figuring that out."

Burrell said people can view the video of the meeting on the local access channel 11 on Morris Broadband and in the meantime said he planned to look into an "appeal process" that could restore the video. "What happens is it gets it put in front of human eyes rather than just a machine, so we'll see what happens after that," he said.

During the more than 45 minutes of public comment on the Covid-19, several of the speakers implied that commissioners might spend some of the county's $22 million in American Rescue Plan money on Covid vaccination promotion. They strongly condemned promotions recently rolled out by the Cooper administration to encourage North Carolinians to get vaccinated, including a $1 million lottery prize and college scholarships.

When the dust cleared from the public comment period, commissioners said they agreed with residents that the government should not require or otherwise entice people to get shots.

Commissioner Michael Edney made a motion to spell out the county's "official position as to Covid and basically any other matter that personal choice and personal responsibility is the overriding factor and driving force behind any movement coming form the Henderson County Board of Commissioners and we encourage people to educate themselves before they make any decisions on their health care."

Commissioners added other points, including banning the spending of any county money to promote vaccines and declining to participate if invited in what is now a four-county pilot program to promote vaccinations.

The million dollar lottery that vaccinated people can enter “is one of the greatest misuses of tax money that I've seen in my career and that’s been a whole lot," County Manager Steve Wyatt said.

County Public Health Director Steve Smith, who was at the meeting for a regular update on the Covid-19 situation, defended his department's actions in educating people about the vaccine without coercion.

"We believe in personal responsibility, personal choice and personal education and we’re not mandating anything on anybody," he said. He was particularly concerned, he said, about comments impugning the actions and motives of public health nurses, counselors and others, who he called ethical and honorable. As for the whiteboard that speakers referred to, Smith said the boards were openly displayed at a Board of Health meeting until he realized some employees' personal information had been left on it. "There was no attempt to hide or be secretive" about any public health outreach plans.

While it's unclear whether the citizens' remarks caused the social media company to pull the video, it is clear that YouTube spells out in detail the guidelines pertaining to Covid-19 information.

"YouTube doesn't allow content about COVID-19 that poses a serious risk of egregious harm," YouTube says in its Community Guidelines page. "YouTube doesn't allow content that spreads medical misinformation that contradicts local health authorities’ or the World Health Organization’s (WHO) medical information about COVID-19."

The site goes on to describe five different prohibited statements of "misinformation" on treatment, 14 statements on prevention and 32 "examples of content that’s not allowed on YouTube." Many of those type statements were made by speakers on Wednesday morning. One speaker, for instance, said on the job as a supermarket checker she had been trying to tell young female coworkers that taking a Covid-19 shot could make them infertile.

Below in italics is YouTube's community guidelines information on statements about the virus regarding its existence, treatment, prevention, diagnosis, transmission and social distancing and self isolation guidelines.

Don’t post content on YouTube if it includes any of the following:

Treatment misinformation:

Content that encourages the use of home remedies, prayer, or rituals in place of medical treatment such as consulting a doctor or going to the hospital
Content that claims that there’s a guaranteed cure for COVID-19
Content that recommends use of Ivermectin or Hydroxychloroquine for the treatment of COVID-19
Claims that Ivermectin or Hydroxychloroquine are effective treatments for COVID-19
Other content that discourages people from consulting a medical professional or seeking medical advice

Prevention misinformation: Content that promotes prevention methods that contradict local health authorities or WHO.

Claims that there is a guaranteed prevention method for COVID-19
Claims that any medication or vaccination is a guaranteed prevention method for COVID-19
Content that recommends use of Ivermectin or Hydroxychloroquine for the prevention of COVID-19
Claims that wearing a mask is dangerous or causes negative physical health effects
Claims that masks do not play a role in preventing the contraction or transmission of COVID-19
Claims about COVID-19 vaccinations that contradict expert consensus from local health authorities or WHO
Claims that an approved COVID-19 vaccine will cause death, infertility, miscarriage, autism, or contraction of other infectious diseases
Claims that an approved COVID-19 vaccine will contain substances that are not on the vaccine ingredient list, such as biological matter from fetuses (e.g. fetal tissue, fetal cell lines) or animal products
Claims that an approved COVID-19 vaccine will contain substances or devices meant to track or identify those who’ve received it
Claims that an approved COVID-19 vaccine will alter a person’s genetic makeup
Claims that COVID-19 vaccines do not reduce risk of contracting COVID-19
Claims that any vaccine causes contraction of COVID-19
Claims that a specific population will be required (by any entity except for a government) to take part in vaccine trials or receive the vaccine first
Content that promotes the use of unapproved or homemade COVID-19 vaccines

Instructions to counterfeit vaccine certificates, or offers of sale for such documents

Diagnostic misinformation: Content that promotes diagnostic methods that contradict local health authorities or WHO.

Transmission misinformation: Content that promotes transmission information that contradicts local health authorities or WHO.

Content that claims that COVID-19 is not caused by a viral infection
Content that claims COVID-19 is not contagious
Content that claims that COVID-19 cannot spread in certain climates or geographies
Content that claims that any group or individual has immunity to the virus or cannot transmit the virus

Social distancing and self isolation misinformation: Content that disputes the efficacy of local health authorities’ or WHO's guidance on physical distancing or self-isolation measures to reduce transmission of COVID-19.

Content that denies the existence of COVID-19:

Denial that COVID-19 exists
Claims that people have not died or gotten sick from COVID-19
Claims that the virus no longer exists or that the pandemic is over
Claims that the symptoms, death rates, or contagiousness of COVID-19 are less severe or equally as severe as the common cold or seasonal flu
Claims that the symptoms of COVID-19 are never severe

Examples

Here are some examples of content that’s not allowed on YouTube:

Denial that COVID-19 exists
Claims that people have not died from COVID-19
Claims that any vaccine is a guaranteed prevention method for COVID-19
Claims that a specific treatment or medicine is a guaranteed cure for COVID-19
Claims that hydroxychloroquine saves people from COVID-19
Promotion of MMS (Miracle Mineral Solution) for the treatment of COVID-19
Claims that certain people have immunity to COVID-19 due to their race or nationality
Encouraging taking home remedies instead of getting medical treatment when sick
Discouraging people from consulting a medical professional if they’re sick
Content that claims that holding your breath can be used as a diagnostic test for COVID-19
Videos alleging that if you avoid Asian food, you won’t get the coronavirus
Videos alleging that setting off fireworks can clean the air of the virus and will prevent the spread of the virus
Claims that COVID-19 is caused by radiation from 5G networks
Videos alleging that the COVID-19 test is the cause of the virus
Claims that countries with hot climates will not experience the spread of the virus
Videos alleging that social distancing and self-isolation are not effective in reducing the spread of the virus
Claims that wearing a mask causes oxygen levels to drop to dangerous levels
Claims that masks cause lung cancer or brain damage
Claims that wearing a mask gives you COVID-19
Claims that the COVID-19 vaccine will kill people who receive it
Claims that the COVID-19 vaccine will be used as a means of population reduction
Videos claiming that the COVID-19 vaccine will contain fetal tissue
Claims that the flu vaccine causes contraction of COVID-19
Claims that COVID-19 vaccines are not effective in preventing the spread of COVID-19
Claims that the COVID-19 vaccine causes contraction of other infectious diseases or makes people more vulnerable to contraction of other infectious diseases
Claims that the COVID-19 vaccines contain a microchip or tracking device
Claims that achieving herd immunity through natural infection is safer than vaccinating the population
Claims that COVID-19 never causes serious symptoms or hospitalization
Claims that the death rate from the seasonal flu is higher than the death rate of COVID-19
Claims that people are immune to the virus based on their race
Claims that children cannot or do not contract COVID-19
Claims that there have not been cases or deaths in countries where cases or deaths have been confirmed by local health authorities or the WHO