Google has already banned adverts promoting phony coronavirus cures or touting “medical misinformation,” but the tech giant went one step further last week, telling CNBC that it will ban publishers from displaying Google ads next to coronavirus conspiracy content.
The firm added that if a site violates this policy sufficiently, the ban will be extended to the entire site. Google will use human and automated reviews to locate and take action against rule-breaking web publishers and advertisers.
The #DeepState collaboration engine, #Google, will double-down on their censoring of pages that contradict "authoritative scientific organizations." Say goodbye to open scientific discussion. Welcome to dystopia. https://t.co/kafcWFpB0K via @Verge
— Jim Meehan, MD (@DocMeehan) July 18, 2020
What information gets banned on Google?
As for what kind of content will be deemed ban-worthy, a Google spokesperson told the news outlet that content claiming vaccines are a population control effort; that Bill Gates created the virus; and that it was a bioweapon engineered in a Chinese laboratory; would all fall foul of the new rule.
“We are putting additional safeguards in place by expanding our harmful health claims policies for both publishers and advertisers to include dangerous content about a health crisis that contradicts scientific consensus,” the spokesperson said.
Google’s “trust the experts” approach is the latest in a series of attempts to clamp down on coronavirus “misinformation.”
In March the company banned most non-governmental content about the outbreak, but pulled back when Democrats in the US complained this approach would benefit the Trump administration.
It also banned the sale of face masks, back when the scientific consensus was that they didn’t work. Since then, that consensus has shifted and going without a mask is now deemed a criminal offense in some countries, including here in South Africa.
#SouthAfrica will penalize people for not wearing #masks in public places to help curb the spread of #COVID19.Employers and building owners will be penalized for granting access to unmasked persons. 🇿🇦😷https://t.co/UDstsv5xvN
— CGTN Africa (@cgtnafrica) July 14, 2020
Google-owned YouTube has already prohibited monetisation of medical misinformation and conspiracy theories surrounding COVID-19.
Also read: Google: Here is how phishing and malware attacks are evolving
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Source: The South African Read More
