A French coronavirus conspiracy video stayed on YouTube and Facebook for months

Press play to listen to this article PARIS — Until very recently, a French COVID-19 conspiracy video called “Hold-up” was just a click away.  The film was still easily accessible online more than six months after its release in November last year, including on mainstream online platforms like Google’s YouTube and Facebook, according to a report by nonprofit EU DisinfoLab and additional research by POLITICO.  YouTube removed the videos after POLITICO flagged them ahead of publishing this story. “Hold-up,” which presents itself as a well-researched documentary, claims the coronavirus pandemic is a secret plot by the global elite to eliminate a part of the world population and control the rest — a common belief among conspiracy theorists — and is similar to an American video, “Plandemic,” which also released last year.  But while Google and Facebook clamped down hard on Plandemic, its French counterpart could still be found online both in full and via extracts until May 10.  “YouTube acted quickly and aggressively to remove Plandemic; but in the case of Hold-up, YouTube’s inaction allowed the dissemination of conspiracy theories with serious harmful consequences for public health,” reads EU DisinfoLab’s report. Since the pandemic began last year, online platforms have banned…
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