A video of a British oncologist warning that the fear of the coronavirus “is more deadly than the virus” itself has been reinstated on YouTube after it was taken down.
The website UnHerd, which operates “to push back against the herd mentality with new and bold thinking, and to provide a platform for otherwise unheard ideas, people, and places,” posted a video interview with Dr. Karol Sikora, the founding dean and professor of medicine at the University of Buckingham Medical School and a former director of the World Health Organization’s Cancer Program, on YouTube Monday.
By Thursday, the site had added an editor’s note reading, “This is the video that YouTube took down for ‘violating guidelines.’ They rejected our appeal to have the video reinstated. Judge for yourself if it is dangerous material.” In the interview, Sikora said the coronavirus is “getting tired” and argued that wearing face masks should be an “individual decision” rather than a mandate. He added that “fear is more deadly than the virus.”
“This censorship is a worrying development,” he tweeted in response to the video being taken down.
Disappointed to hear that Youtube has removed my interview with @unherd (no reasons given).
I thought it was a measured discussion. We need to have a balance, that involves listening to differing opinions and not banning them.
This censorship is a worrying development.
— Professor Karol Sikora (@ProfKarolSikora) May 21, 2020
Hours later, a YouTube spokesperson told the Washington Examiner that the video was mistakenly banned and has since been reinstated.
Sikora lauded the decision to reinstate the video, saying, “Debate is always a good thing!”
Pleased that Youtube has reinstated my interview. I appreciate all of the support.
Nobody knows what’s going to happen with this pandemic – debate is always a good thing!
I think preparing for the worst, but hoping for the best is a sensible strategy.
— Professor Karol Sikora (@ProfKarolSikora) May 21, 2020
The news comes after another YouTube video of two California doctors, who called for an end to stay-at-home orders, was pulled in April.
Drs. Dan Erickson and Artin Massihi, who co-own Accelerated Urgent Care facilities in Kern County, have administered more than 5,000 coronavirus tests and said the virus is not deadlier than the seasonal flu. They recommended in a press conference that stay-at-home orders across the country be lifted. Nearly 5.5 million people had watched their video before YouTube removed it from the platform for “violating” its terms of service.
Fox News host Tucker Carlson railed against censorship in Big Tech over the video being pulled.
“Looking back, when all of this is finally over, and it will be, it’s likely we’ll see this moment — what YouTube just did — as a turning point in the way we live in this country, a sharp break with 250 years of law and custom,” he said in an April monologue. “The two doctors’ video was produced by a local television channel in California. It was, in effect, a mainstream news story.”
“Doctors who are actually treating patients with the virus, meanwhile, have just been banned,” he continued. “So, no, this is not about science. Censorship never is about science. It’s about power. Big Technology companies are using this tragedy to increase their power over the American population. They’re working in concert with politicians in order to do it.”
He added, “As we fight this virus, we are becoming far more like the country that spawned it. We’re becoming more like China. It’s horrifying. And it tells you everything that our professional class enthusiastically welcomes this.”
YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki said in April that the platform will ban any material not in step with World Health Organization guidelines.
“People saying, ‘Take Vitamin C, take turmeric, we’ll cure you,’ those are the examples of things that would be a violation of our policy,” Wojcicki said on CNN’s Reliable Sources. “Anything that would go against [WHO] recommendations would be a violation of our policy.”
Some lawmakers are also calling for an end to censorship by Silicon Valley. Sen. Ted Cruz tweeted Thursday, “Lefty ideologues are not objective ‘fact checkers.’ And who the hell wants Silocon Valley billionaires decide what ‘truth’ is anyway? #EndBigTechCensorship.”
Lefty ideologues are not objective “fact checkers.” And who the hell wants Silocon Valley billionaires decide what “truth” is anyway? #EndBigTechCensorship https://t.co/0QN2vVNstY
— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) May 21, 2020
The Republican senator was referencing Facebook’s move to bury conservative nonprofit group PragerU for “repeated sharing of false news.”
