By Jessica Mathews / news@whmi.com


YouTube has yanked another video posted of a Livingston County Board of Commissioners meeting due to false claims and misinformation about COVID-19.

The County earlier set up a YouTube channel to post meetings for the public. The board’s August 9th meeting was removed for violating YouTube’s Medical Misinformation Policy, which was believed to be tied to the Call to the Public section of the meeting.

This is not the first time a County video has been deleted. YouTube removed the video of the county’s April 13th board meeting, for the same violations. Comments are made regularly during meetings questioning the seriousness of COVID-19, the efficacy of masks and other points of view at odds with scientific evidence.

Commissioner Doug Helzerman penned a column about the removal of the video in the Fowlerville News & Views in mid-August. He said the most recent removal was considered their “first strike” resulting in the County’s account being frozen for one week – meaning no videos could be posted. If another “strike” is received before November 8th, then the county can’t post anything for two weeks. If there’s a third strike within 90 days, he said the County channel would be permanently removed.

Helzerman commented that Call to the Public is based on the First Amendment and they are not the “truth police”. He wrote “YouTube and other internet giants seem to have, without authority, stepped into roles that have been played by total control states like Cuba, China, and the Soviet Union. This is just one of the disturbing signs that there are people who are dedicated to dramatically changing the America in which we were born.”

Livingston County Administrator Nathan Burd told WHMI that an appeal for the April removal was denied even though YouTube was aware that they are a government entity and it was a public meeting. Burd says YouTube has not specified what comments caused the infraction, but that they are exploring different options for posting videos of their Full Board Meetings. A link to Helzerman’s article is available on our website.

A link to Helzerman’s article is provided.