Google sued by anti-vax doctor over YouTube ban

(Reuters) – A Florida doctor known for spreading false claims about vaccines has sued Google LLC and its parent company Alphabet Inc for removing all of his content from their YouTube video-sharing platform with no advance notice, saying the move breached its terms of service.

In the lawsuit, filed Thursday in federal court in San Francisco, Joseph Mercola asked the court to order Google to reinstate his YouTube account and to award unspecified money damages.

Google did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Mercola became prominent as a promoter of alternative medicine and seller of supplements. He has been a leading figure in the nationwide anti-vaccine movement that has led some parents to forego vaccinating their children against preventable illnesses like measles based on false claims linking the shots to autism and other health problems.

Mercola also downplayed the effectiveness and safety of COVID vaccines during the pandemic while promoting ineffective treatments for the virus such as the antiparasitic drug ivermectin.

YouTube and other social media platforms, facing public criticism for spreading misinformation, took steps to limit false information during the pandemic. In October 2020, YouTube announced a policy that it would ban any posts about COVID vaccines that contradicted consensus from local health authorities or the World Health Organization.

Mercola said in his lawsuit that he was careful to abide by that policy and his account was allowed to continue operating.

In September 2021, YouTube expanded the policy to include false claims about any approved vaccines, for example that they cause autism or infertility. Immediately after that announcement, YouTube banned Mercola’s account and removed all of his videos.

Mercola said that, under its terms of service, YouTube must give users a chance to review any changes to the terms and remove their content from the platform if they do not agree to them.

“YouTube violated this provision when, on September 29, 2021, it de-platformed Mercola’s channel and immediately denied Mercola further access to its account, including any opportunity to remove its own content, which includes more than 15 years’ worth of professionally produced videos,” he said.

He also said that the terms of service included a “three strikes” policy, under which users are given opportunities to remove specific offending content before being banned. He said the only exception was for “severe abuse” and that none of his videos met that threshold.

The case is Mercola.com v. Google LLC et al, U.S. District Court, Northern District of California, No. 3:22-cv-05567.

For Mercola: P. Renee Wicklund of Richman Law & Policy, John Howard of JW Howard Attorneys and others

For Google: not available

Read more:

YouTube bans coronavirus vaccine misinformation

YouTube blocks all anti-vaccine content

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