YouTube, Facebook and Vimeo have removed the long trailer, which went viral, of a film called Plandemic, which reports conspiracy theories about the coronavirus. The three platforms have removed the 26-minute video, which claims that billionaires helped spread coronavirus to boost vaccine spread, and that the masks are dangerous.
The trailer offers an interview with Judy Mikovits, an exponent of the American anti-vaccination movement, and also contains statements out of context of the immunologist Anthony Fauci, the best known face of the US task force on Covid-19.
As reported by the Washington Post, a YouTube spokesman explained that he had removed the video because the company forbids the presence of "medically unsubstantiated diagnostic advice". A Facebook manager remarked, "Suggesting that wearing the face mask gets sick can cause imminent harm." A Vimeo spokesman pointed out that the platform prohibits "content that disseminates harmful and deceptive health information".
Twitter has instead told the newspaper that it has removed the hashtags #PlagueofCorruption and #PlandemicMovie from research and trends.