YouTube to certify healthcare providers’ accounts

WASHINGTON

Doctors, nurses and other healthcare professionals can apply to have their YouTube channels certified, the video sharing platform said on Oct. 27, in a push to limit misinformation on the site.

The change will allow viewers to more easily access videos containing “high-quality health information,” YouTube said.
“This is a big step towards helping people more easily find and connect with content that comes from the extraordinary community of healthcare professionals on YouTube,” it added.

In addition to doctors and nurses, mental health professionals and healthcare information providers may also apply for the YouTube verification that allows their videos to be spotted easily by users.

“This new step will allow us to expand to include high quality information from a wider group of healthcare channels,” the company said.

Some 90 percent of Americans use social media to search for health information, according to the National Academy of Medicine.

YouTube faced criticism last year for hosting videos that criticized COVID-19 vaccines or contradicted health guidance from the World Health Organization (WHO) or the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

In response, in September 2021, it banned misleading and inaccurate content about vaccines.