YouTube has removed an interview featuring Democrat presidential candidate and nephew of former U.S. President John F. Kennedy, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., where he discussed the potential link between chemicals in the water and transgender issues.
During the interview, Kennedy, a staunch anti-vaccine crusader, asserted that chemicals in the water were a significant contributor to sexual dysphoria in children, particularly boys.
“I mean, they’re swimming through a soup of toxic chemicals today, and many of those are endocrine disruptors. There’s atrazine throughout our water supply,” he stated.
Kennedy drew attention to atrazine’s effect on frogs, stating that in laboratory conditions, the chemical castrates and feminizes them forcefully.
Adding that around 10% of male frogs transform into fully viable females capable of producing viable eggs, the Democrat suggested that if atrazine could exert such an influence on frogs, there is evidence to consider its impact on human beings as well.
The video’s removal has sparked accusations of censorship and interference with a presidential campaign as Kennedy and podcast host Jordan Peterson, who conducted the interview for The Daily Wire, took to Twitter to express their dismay at YouTube’s takedown.
“What do you think… Should social media platforms censor presidential candidates? My conversation with [Peterson] was deleted by [YouTube],” Kennedy tweeted.
What do you think … Should social media platforms censor presidential candidates? My conversation with @JordanBPeterson was deleted by @YouTube. Luckily you can watch it here on @Twitter (thank you @elonmusk). #Kennedy24https://t.co/PJFKWH6zmd
— Robert F. Kennedy Jr (@RobertKennedyJr) June 18, 2023
Fortunately, the interview has been made available on Twitter, thanks to the leadership of Elon Musk. Urging his followers to watch the interview, Kennedy initiated a Twitter thread, inviting them to join the conversation and help identify the alleged “misinformation” that led to the video’s removal.
Peterson also took to his Twitter account to express disappointment with YouTube’s decision. Coming from a curious angle, he wrote, “Now [YouTube] has taken upon itself to actively interfere with a presidential election campaign.”
Now @YouTube has taken upon itself to actively interfere with a presidential election campaign @RobertKennedyJr https://t.co/XmgOYTl3NN
— Dr Jordan B Peterson (@jordanbpeterson) June 18, 2023
YouTube’s decision to remove the interview has ignited concerns among conservatives, who perceive it as an act of suppressing alternative viewpoints. Critics argue that such actions impede open dialogue and undermine the principle of free speech.
Youtube parent company Google has defended the platform’s actions through a spokesperson who told Fox News that the video was removed due to a violation of its general vaccine misinformation policy which prohibits content that makes claims about vaccines causing chronic side effects, apart from recognized rare side effects endorsed by health authorities.
The spokesperson reiterated that YouTube’s Community Guidelines are applied consistently to all creators, “regardless of political viewpoint.”
“Under our general vaccine misinformation policies, we remove false claims about currently administered vaccines that are approved and confirmed to be safe and effective by local health authorities and the WHO,” the spokesperson stated.
“We removed a video from the Jordan Peterson channel for violating YouTube’s general vaccine misinformation policy, which prohibits content that alleges that vaccines cause chronic side effects, outside of rare side effects that are recognized by health authorities,” Youtube itself said in a statement obtained by NBC News.
This is not Kennedy’s first rodeo with social media platforms as regards vaccine claims. In 2021, Instagram suspended his account over what it deemed false COVID-19 claims.
