YouTube has lifted a short-lived ban on the digital station TalkRadio from its platform, about 12 hours after removing the channel from the organization for violations of Community Guidelines.
The station, which is part of Rupert Murdoch’s TalkSport network, said it had not been told by the platform what the most recent breach was. A TalkRadio spokesperson said: “We are urgently awaiting a detailed response from Google / YouTube on the nature of the breach that led to our channel being removed from its platform.
“TalkRadio is an Ofcom licensed and regulated broadcaster and has robust editorial controls that ensure the discussion is balanced.
“We regularly poll government data and we have audits, use verifiable sources and allow for careful selection of votes and opinions.”
On Tuesday evening, the streaming platform broke the silence and recovered TalkRadio’s account. “TalkRadio’s YouTube channel has been briefly suspended, but has now been restored upon further review,” a YouTube spokesperson said. “We will promptly remove any flagged content that violates our Community Guidelines, including Covid-19 content that explicitly contradicts expert consensus from local health authorities or the World Health Organization. We make exceptions for material posted for an educational, documentary, scientific or artistic purpose, as assumed in this case. ”
A TalkRadio insider told the Guardian that the problem was particularly acute for shows staging public debates about the coronavirus. “You can have a debate on an issue and if, in anyone’s opinion, it undermines the official guidelines in any way, it will be classified as medical misinformation,” they said.
YouTube’s content management system enforces a ‘three warnings’ rule that allows accounts to receive ‘warnings’ for posting content that violates content guidelines. A single strike comes with some limitations, but a channel that receives three strikes in a 90-day period will be completely removed from the platform. A previous strike was issued on TalkRadio’s account for a discussion with Conservative MP Tobias Ellwood, the Guardian understands.
The platform has a specific set of policies around medical misinformation related to Covid. At least two of the station’s hosts, Mark Dolan and Julia Hartley-Brewer, regularly speak out against the lockdown policy, both on and off the air.
Shortly after news of the suspension was out, Cabinet Office Secretary Michael Gove appeared on the Hartley-Brewer show and spoke out in defense of TalkRadio’s right to criticize the government.
“I don’t believe in censorship and we have a free and fair press, and we have leading commentators and interviewers who criticize the government’s position,” said Gove, “From Lord Sumption to Peter Hitchens and others, and I’ll stay that way. think it is absolutely right for people to ask questions. “
YouTube’s definition of medical misinformation, while similar to that of competitors such as Facebook and Twitter, has been criticized in itself.
Commentators have noted that the rule is criticizing organizations that themselves changed their advice – in some cases significantly – in the course of the pandemic.
For example, in March 2020, many tech platforms identified as misinformation claimed that wearing a mask could help prevent the spread of Covid; now those same tech platforms consider misinformation the claim that wearing a mask does not help prevent the spread of Covid. In both cases, statements from local and international health authorities were behind the decision.
An Ofcom spokesman said: “This was a decision for YouTube. Like other UK stations, TalkRadio’s radio channel falls under our broadcast code. When we review programs according to our rules, we consider a broadcaster’s right to freedom of expression and listeners’ right to receive information and ideas. “