YouTube censored my Covid Inquiry evidence as vaccine misinformation, barrister says

YouTube removed a video of a barrister speaking at the Covid Inquiry about harms caused by coronavirus vaccines, it has emerged.

Anna Morris KC, who is representing family groups injured by the jab, told the inquiry that a repost of her preliminary submissions to Baroness Hallett had been taken down by the social media giant.

Ms Morris said that those harmed by the vaccine had been “dismissed, ignored, censored” and treated with “hostility” when they attempted to seek help or talk about their conditions.

Speaking on Tuesday on the opening day of Module 4 of the inquiry in London, which is examining vaccines and drugs, she told the judge: “The inquiry must understand the stigma and censorship for the vaccine injured and bereaved.

“Doctors were instructed to keep their concerns from the public, including their own patients.

“A poll of all family members found 74 per cent have been censored when talking about vaccines on social media. YouTube removed my submissions to you in 2023.”

Ms Morris made preliminary comments on Sept 13 2024 in which she urged the inquiry to recognise that “the treatment of the vaccine injured in this country has historically been a source of shame”. YouTube did not give a reason for removing the video.

In Tuesday’s hearing, she said that the inquiry would hear “powerful evidence” which would show the “uncomfortable truth” that injury and death from vaccines were part of the pandemic story for thousands of people.

She said that adverse reactions to the vaccine should have been expected when rolled out to such large numbers and health care workers should have been trained to look out for harms.

‘Censorship has continued for years’

“Those I represent are neither anti-science nor are they anti-vaccine, they are real people with real experiences,” she said, and called for a reform of the vaccine damage payment system.

“For too long they have been ignored. They are not just an unfortunate statistic or collateral damage.”

She added: “Unfortunately this censorship has continued years after the pandemic and into our engagement with this inquiry. YouTube removed a video featuring my legal submissions to you m’lady on 13th September 2023 and despite request for a thorough review, You Tube cited a violation of its medical misinformation policy as grounds for removal.”

Hugo Keith KC, counsel for the inquiry, said that the public health benefit of vaccination was “beyond argument” but said the inquiry would be looking into whether the benefits outweighed the risks for some people.

The UK Health Security Agency estimated that by September 2021 – nine months after the rollout – the Covid-19 vaccines had prevented more than 23 million infections and 123,000 deaths in Britain.

Mr Keith said that rare reactions were not expected to be picked up in clinical trials, only becoming apparent when millions of people are vaccinated.

“The evidence suggests overwhelmingly that the UK Covid-19 vaccines successfully protected the people of the UK against a virus that was killing and liable to kill hundreds of thousands of people,” he said.

The inquiry heard how a team of experts have assessed the likelihood that vaccines caused a number of conditions, and will be giving evidence.

“The inquiry and the public will know whether there appears to be a genuine issue and what the scale of the problem is,” Mr Keith said.

Only 188 payouts

Latest figures show more than 17,500 people have applied to the Vaccine Damage Payment Scheme, believing that they, or their loved ones, were injured by the jabs.

However, there have only been 188 payouts, with hundreds of people rejected for not meeting the “60 per cent disabled” threshold.

An impact film was shown which included the story of pharmacist John Cross who took his own life after suffering paralysing complications from a Covid jab but being refused a pay out by medical assessors.

Mr Keith acknowledged that the vaccine damage payment scheme had caused “remarkable distress” to people who had sought redress.

The hearing continues this week and will hear evidence from Matt Hancock, the former health secretary and Lord Alok Sharma, the former business secretary.

YouTube said that the video was now live on its platform.

The platform added that it removed content that breached its community guidelines but accepted that “it sometimes makes mistakes”.