{"id":17900,"date":"2020-04-01T18:44:10","date_gmt":"2020-04-01T18:44:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/rbsitsoftwaresolution.com\/blog\/youtube-sellers-found-touting-bogus-coronavirus-vaccines-and-masks.html"},"modified":"2020-04-01T18:44:10","modified_gmt":"2020-04-01T18:44:10","slug":"youtube-sellers-found-touting-bogus-coronavirus-vaccines-and-masks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rbsitsoftwaresolution.in\/blog\/youtube-sellers-found-touting-bogus-coronavirus-vaccines-and-masks.html","title":{"rendered":"YouTube sellers found touting bogus coronavirus vaccines and masks"},"content":{"rendered":"

YouTube <\/a> has been criticized for continuing to host coronavirus disinformation on its video sharing platform during a global health emergency.<\/p>\n

Two US advocacy groups which campaign for online safety undertook an 18-day investigation of the video sharing platform in March \u2014 finding what they say were \u201cdozens\u201d of examples of dubious videos, including videos touting bogus vaccines the sellers claimed would protect buyers from COVID-19.<\/p>\n

They also found videos advertising medical masks of unknown quality for sale.<\/p>\n

There have been concerns about shortages of masks for front-line medical staff, as well as the risk of online scammers hawking a low grade kit that does not offered the claimed protection against the virus.<\/p>\n

Google <\/a> said <\/a>last month that it would temporarily take down ads for masks from its ad network but sellers looking to exploit the coronavirus crisis appear to be circumventing the ban by using YouTube\u2019s video sharing platform as an alternative digital shop window to lure buyers.<\/p>\n

Researchers working for the <\/span>Digital Citizens Alliance<\/a> (DCA) and the Coalition for a Safer Web (CSW) initiated conversations with <\/span>sellers they found touting dodgy coronavirus wares on YouTube \u2014 and were offered useless \u2018vaccines\u2019 for purchase and hundreds of masks of unknown quality.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere was ample reason to believe the offers for masks were dubious as well [as the vaccines], as highlighted by interactions with representatives from some of the sellers,\u201d they said.<\/p>\n

Their report<\/a> includes screen grabs of some of the interactions with the sellers. In one a seller tells the researchers they don\u2019t accept credit cards \u2014 but they do accept CashApp, PayPal, Google or Amazon gift cards and Bitcoin.<\/p>\n

The same seller offered the researchers vaccines priced at $135 each, and suggested they purchase MMR\/Varicella when asked which one is \u201cthe best\u201d. Such a vaccine, even if it functioned for MMR\/Varicella, would obviously offer no protection against COVID-19.<\/p>\n

Another seller was found to be hawking \u201cCOVID-19 drugs\u201d using a YouTube account name \u201cReal ID Card Fake Passport Producer.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHow does a guy calling himself \u2018Real ID Card Fake Passport Producer\u2019 even get a page on YouTube?\u201d said Eric Feinberg, lead researcher for CSW, in a statement accompanying the report. \u201cIt\u2019s all too easy to get ahold of these guys. We called some of them. Once you contact them, they are relentless. They\u2019ll call you back at all hours and hound you until you buy something. They\u2019ll call you in the middle of the night. They are predators looking to capitalize on our fear.\u201d<\/p>\n

A spokesman for the DCA told us the researchers compiled the report based on content from around 60 videos they identified hawking coronavirus-related \u2018cures\u2019 or kit between March 6-24.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are too many to count. Everyday, I find more,\u201d added Feinberg.<\/p>\n

The groups are also critical of how YouTube\u2019s platform risks lending credibility to coronavirus disinformation because the platform now displays official CDC-branded banners under any COVID-19 related material \u2014 including the dubious videos their report highlights.<\/p>\n

\u201cYouTube also mixes trusted resources with sites that shouldn\u2019t be trusted and that could confuse consumers \u2014 especially when they are scared and desperate,\u201d said DCA executive director, Tom Galvin, in a statement. \u201cIt\u2019s hard enough to tell who\u2019s legitimate and who\u2019s not on YouTube.\u201d<\/p>\n

The DCA and CSW have written letters to the US Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission laying out their findings and calling for \u201cswift action\u201d to hold bad actors accountable. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201c<\/span>YouTube, and its parent company Google, are shirking their formal policy that prohibits content that capitalizes off sensitive events,\u201d they write in a letter to attorney general Barr.<\/p>\n

\u201cDigital Citizens is sharing this information in the hopes your Justice Department will act swiftly to hold bad actors, who take advantage of the coronavirus, accountable. In this crisis, strong action will deter others from engaging in criminal or illicit acts that harm consumers or add to confusion and anxiety,\u201d they add.<\/p>\n

Responding to the groups\u2019 findings a YouTube spokesperson said some of the videos the researchers had identified had not received many views.<\/p>\n

After we contacted the company about the content YouTube told us it had removed three channels identified by the researchers in the report for violating its Community Guidelines.<\/p>\n

In a statement YouTube added:<\/p>\n

\n

Our thoughts are with everyone affected by the coronavirus around the world. We\u2019re committed to providing helpful information at this critical time, including raising authoritative content, reducing the spread of harmful misinformation and showing information panels, using WHO \/ CDC data, to help combat misinformation. To date, there have been over 5B impressions on our information panels for coronavirus related videos and searches. We also have clear policies<\/a> against COVID-19 misinformation and we quickly remove videos violating these policies when flagged to us.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

The DCA and CSW also recently undertook a similar review of Facebook\u2019s platform \u2014 finding sellers touting masks for sale despite the tech giant\u2019s claimed ban on such content. <\/span>\u201cFacebook promised CNN when they did a story on our report about them that the masks would be gone a week ago, but the researchers from CSW are still finding the masks now,\u201d their spokesman told us.<\/p>\n

Earlier this week<\/a> the Tech Transparency Project also reported still being able to find masks for sale on Facebook\u2019s platform. It found examples of masks showing up in Google\u2019s targeted ads too.<\/p>\n

Article source: http:\/\/feedproxy.google.com\/~r\/techcrunch\/social\/~3\/WXLQwVKCUwo\/<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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