Watch the Shawnee Mission video that was banned from YouTube for COVID misinformation
The Shawnee Mission school district has released video of a school board meeting that was banned from YouTube because residents and a Kansas lawmaker spread misinformation about COVID-19 and the effectiveness of masks.
YouTube removed a video of the May 17 school board meeting for violating its community standards related to the spread of disinformation. During the public comment portion of the meeting, some speakers begged the district to end its mask mandate, while spreading false information.
The district has now removed that section of the meeting from the video and reposted it on YouTube.
“We have clear Community Guidelines to prevent the spread of COVID-19 medical misinformation,” Elena Hernandez, YouTube’s policy communications manager, said in an email to The Star. “We removed the video in accordance with these policies for including claims that masks are ineffective at preventing COVID-19 and that wearing a mask is dangerous.”
Though the public comments portion of the video is no longer on YouTube, Shawnee Mission officials provided it to The Star.
About 8 minutes into the video, Merriam resident Scott Bozarth questions the district’s mask and social distancing policies, asking officials if they have researched “the harm masks are doing to children.”
Experts have debunked false claims that face masks can cause bacterial pneumonia, cancer or are otherwise harmful. And studies have shown that mask mandates have been effective at mitigating the spread of COVID-19.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention continues to recommend the use of masks and physical distancing in schools. Shawnee Mission officials have said they will continue to mandate masks at least through the end of the school year, which is Thursday.
At one point, Bozarth holds up a bandanna and a gas mask, asking why a bandanna would be acceptable in school but not the gas mask.
About 12 minutes into the video, Kansas state Sen. Mike Thompson, a Shawnee Republican, tells the board he is speaking “on behalf of many parents” who are upset by the district’s mask mandate.
Throughout the legislative session, Thompson pushed for an end to public health rules adopted to mitigate the spread of COVID-19, and he continues to claim that masks are ineffective.
“Think of it this way,” he tells the school board. “I’m about 6-feet-tall. Saying this mask is going to block the virus is like saying I can’t walk through a doorway 6,000 feet tall and 2,000 feet wide. That I’m going to bump into walls and it’s going to prevent me from getting through that doorway. That’s how tiny the virus is.”
CDC studies have shown that multi-layer masks effectively block particles that could contain the virus. And experts have dispelled theories that tiny virus particles can penetrate N95 filters.
After Thompson speaks, four mothers argue against the mask mandate, with some falsely claiming that masks are harmful and can deprive children of oxygen. Medical experts have debunked such claims.
And Dave Trabert, CEO of the Kansas Policy Institute, tells the board he believes public school districts have mishandled COVID-19 and failed to prioritize student achievement.
Misinformation about the coronavirus and mask-wearing has been rampant at state, county, city and school board meetings throughout this past year. But last week was the first time the Shawnee Mission school district had learned one of its videos was removed from YouTube.
“Our policies are content-based, meaning that we apply our policies regardless of the speaker or channel,” Hernandez said of YouTube’s decision to ban the video.
YouTube provides a long list of false statements related to COVID-19 that it will remove. They include debunked claims that masks do not help prevent the transmission of the virus and that wearing a mask is dangerous.
For a first violation, the user will receive a warning with no penalty. After that, YouTube will issue a strike against the user’s channel. If a user receives three strikes, the channel will be terminated.
District spokesman David Smith said officials were determining how to continue making public meetings accessible online during the pandemic without limiting public comments. The district only posts its videos on YouTube, where they are livestreamed.
This story was originally published May 24, 2021 at 1:10 PM.
