A sequel to the “Plandemic” video that propagated false claims about the novel coronavirus earlier in the outbreak faced pushback from online platforms upon its release Tuesday.
Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and TikTok wasted little time before taking steps to limit the spread of the newest video, “Plandemic: Indoctrination,” for containing misinformation.
Some platforms, such as Facebook, blocked social networking users from sharing links to a website that hosted the sequel’s live world premiere Tuesday.
Others, like video-sharing services TikTok and YouTube, were quick to remove footage of the new film being uploaded by users as it became available.
Released in May, the first film was viewed millions of times before being pulled from several platforms for breaking their rules about COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus.
The sequel faced a considerably swifter response, however, no doubt limiting the number of people who would have access if the tech titans had not acted so fast.
“Given the previous Plandemic video violated our COVID misinformation policies, we blocked access to that domain from our services,” a Facebook spokesperson said, several outlets reported. “This latest video contains COVID-19 claims that our fact-checking partners have repeatedly rated false so we have reduced its distribution and added a warning label showing their findings to anyone who sees it.”
Twitter has similarly begun adding warning labels to tweets linking to the sequel, while TikTok said it was banning the video and related search terms.
“Our community values authentic and safe content, which is why we prohibit disinformation on TikTok,” a TikTok spokesperson told The Washington Times. “We work to remove content that misleads our community about health, the elections, and other important issues in the public discourse on an ongoing basis. This effort includes removing ’Plandemic’ videos and not serving results for dozens of related searches and hashtags.”
YouTube removed at least one copy of the sequel for violating its terms of service, and a cursory search of the site found only one full version of the video Wednesday afternoon.
The original “Plandemic” video contained several bogus claims about the new coronavirus, including that it is harmful to wear facial coverings, for example.
More than 1.2 million people in the U.S. had tested positive for COVID-19 when the first “Plandemic” film was released in early May. The current tally is nearly 5.5 million, according to Johns Hopkins University, or roughly 1.67% of the U.S. population.
• Andrew Blake can be reached at ablake@washingtontimes.com.
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