Australia’s medical regulator has written to YouTube and Facebook over United Australia Party ads,saying the videos paint a “seriously misleading” picture of vaccine safety and asking the platforms to remove them.
Therapeutic Goods Administration boss Professor John Skerritt wrote to the companies on Tuesday,sharing the regulator’s concern about the content of videos shared on both platforms.
“As you may be aware,the TGA has expressed concern about material promoted on social media,including YouTube by the United Australia Party which we believe provides a seriously misleading picture of the safety of COVID-19 vaccines and could discourage individuals and their families from becoming vaccinated,” Professor Skerritt wrote to YouTube. His letter to Facebook was almost identical.
“Extracts of information have been selectively taken from the (which is hosted on the TGA website) and have been presented in such a way on social media that many could conclude that the vaccines have been responsible for several hundred deaths in Australia.”
The United Australia Party has been conducting a widespread anti-lockdown and anti-vaccination campaign,represented in federal parliament by former Liberal backbencher Craig Kelly,has also used text messages,letter-boxing and advertisements in print newspapers (including inThe Sydney Morning Herald andThe Age).
By the end of August the Australian Media and Communications Authority said it had received more than 300 about the messages. But because the communications come from a political party,they do not fall foul of the Spam Act of 2003,and they also don’t constitute advertising under the Therapeutic Goods Act of 1989.
The TGA took the campaign broke copyright law,but Mr Kelly hit back saying he would take his own legal action.
Professor Skerritt said he would not comment on the issue at senate estimates today because of the legal action,but agreed to table the letters sent to Facebook and YouTube.
In the correspondence,Professor Skerritt stressed the good relationship between the regulator and the platforms in removing unrelated advertising that was in apparent breach of the TGA code over the course of the pandemic.
“While for the reasons described above the communications from the UAP do not fit into the category of advertising,I would ask you to consider removing such communications as they undermine Australia's vaccination campaign and are not in the public interest,” he said.