• With misinformation rife on social media on topics related to the pandemic, COVID-19 and vaccines, discerning fact from fiction became increasingly difficult.
• Now YouTube is adding a new way for healthcare professionals to be vetted on its platform.
• Along with receiving a label marking them as reliable, these professionals will also be able to create content on specific medical subject matter.

During the peak of the pandemic, it became increasingly difficult to discern fact from fiction when it came to subjects like vaccines, the spread of COVID-19 and the best preventative measures. So much so that several social media platforms focused heavily on misinformation during that time.

Now YouTube is rolling out a new initiative with this in mind, allowing healthcare professionals on the platform to get vetted and labelled as reliable.

Here, said healthcare professionals will have their licences verified by YouTube, and once accepted, be seen by viewers on YouTube as a trusted source when it comes to medical issues.

As such, this initiative extends further than simply tackling misinformation on vaccines, with other healthcare topics like abortion, reproductive health, sperm count, mental well-being and more all featuring divisive takes on YouTube.

With a reliable label, it now opens up the opportunity for trusted healthcare professionals to share accurate information on the video platform.

“The reality is that the majority of healthcare decisions are made outside the doctor’s office, in the everyday lives of our patients. That’s why YouTube Health has been working on additional ways to help doctors, nurses, mental health professionals and healthcare information providers to bring high quality health information into the spaces that people visit throughout their day – like their favourite video-sharing app,” explains YouTube in a recent blog post.

“Today, we’re announcing that for the first time, certain categories of healthcare professionals and health information providers can apply to make their channels eligible for our health product features that were launched in the US last year. This includes health source information panels that help viewers identify videos from authoritative sources and health content shelves that highlight videos from these sources when you search for health topics, so people can more easily navigate and evaluate health information online,” it adds.

There are a few hoops to jump through for those wishing to apply to be verified, such as needing to adhere to the procedures of regulatory bodies like the World Health Organisation (WHO), as well as being transparent, scientific and objective in the information that is shared on YouTube moving forward.

Those wanting to apply to be labelled as reliable can find out how to do so here.

[Image – Photo by National Cancer Institute on Unsplash]