YouTube has yanked the video of a recent COVID-19 discussion that included radiologist and former White House advisor Scott Atlas, MD, amid concerns about it containing false information. However, a video of a similar event was back up on the platform as of late Monday afternoon.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis assembled the expert panel last month to examine his state’s response to the public health crisis. During the conversation, neurorad and Stanford University fellow Atlas reiterated his previous criticisms of lockdowns and mask mandates.
The Google-owned online video platform has responded by taking down a video of the March 18 discussion. Sunetra Gupta of Oxford University and Martin Kulldorff, professor of medicine and a specialist in cancer data science at Harvard, also participated.
“We removed this video because it included content that contradicts the consensus of local and global health authorities regarding the efficacy of masks to prevent the spread of COVID-19,” YouTube spokeswoman Elena Hernandez told the Washington Post Friday.
On the other side, the Florida governor’s office called the decision “another blatant example of Big Tech attempting to silence those who disagree with their woke corporate agenda.”
“Good public health policy should include a variety of scientific and technical expertise, and YouTube’s decision to remove this video suppresses productive dialogue of these complex issues,” spokesman Cody McCloud told the Post.
Meanwhile, DeSantis hosted another panel with the same speakers on April 12, with the new video uploaded and viewable on YouTube as of late Monday afternoon.
Marty Stempniak has covered healthcare since 2012, with his byline appearing in the American Hospital Association's member magazine, Modern Healthcare and McKnight's. Prior to that, he wrote about village government and local business for his hometown newspaper in Oak Park, Illinois. He won a Peter Lisagor and Gold EXCEL awards in 2017 for his coverage of the opioid epidemic.