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Authoritative health information Overview
When you turn to YouTube for health information, we want you to be empowered to live your healthiest life and to make informed decisions through knowledge, belonging, and inspiration. That’s why we are working with healthcare providers and public healthcare organizations to provide you with easy-to-understand video content that can help educate and inspire you.
Applying principles for authoritative health sources
When it comes to finding health information online, we know it’s important to have access to information provided by authoritative medical sources. To identify such health sources, we use principles and definitions developed by an expert panel convened by the National Academy of Medicine (NAM). NAM is a nonprofit, nongovernmental organization that brings together top experts in health, medicine, and biomedical science to provide unbiased, evidence-based guidance about health and science.
The expert panel convened by NAM published foundational principles that can be used to guide identification of potentially credible online health sources in a paper called Identifying Credible Sources of Health Information in Social Media: Principles and Attributes. The principles for authoritative health sources in this paper include that sources should be science-based, objective, transparent and accountable.
As we begin to adopt principles for authoritative health sources, we are starting with organizations with pre-existing, standardized vetting mechanisms such as healthcare organizations, educational institutions, public health departments and government organizations.* Vetting mechanisms include accreditation, academic journal indexing and government accountability rules. We’re exploring ways to broaden eligibility and evaluate inclusion of other health sources, as well as ways to expand these features globally.
We are also working with the American Public Health Association (APHA) to review how we apply principles that help us identify authoritative sources for health information in the United States. The APHA is a professional association of public health practitioners that advocates for public health issues and policies backed by science.
*Current sources are not exhaustive of these categories, we are continuing work to include sources based on these principles and attributes.
Providing health source context
When looking for health information online, it can be difficult to determine the authority or credibility of various sources of information. Context is critical when evaluating information, which is why we provide context alongside videos that have been identified as authoritative sources for health information. To identify authoritative health sources, we asked an expert panel convened by the National Academy of Medicine (NAM) to define principles that could be used.
Information panels providing health source context can help you better evaluate if a source is an accredited organization or government health source. These panels can also provide additional context on how sources are defined from the principles developed by an expert panel convened by NAM.
Raising authoritative health sources
To make it easier for you to find content from authoritative health sources when you search on YouTube, you may see a health content shelf when you search for certain health topics, such as diabetes or breast cancer. These shelves include videos from authoritative sources that have been identified by applying principles developed by an expert panel convened by the National Academy of Medicine.
Highlighting helpful health context
When you search on YouTube for health-related topics, such as COVID-19 or depression, you may see information panels on YouTube that show health information from authoritative sources, such as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, or the World Health Organization. These panels include information such as symptoms, treatment, and prevention, and also allow you to go to the third party’s website to learn more. In some countries or regions, you may notice links to clinically confirmed self-assessment tools from local health authorities. Based on your self-assessment answers, you can find more information on what kind of support or medical care might be appropriate for you.
Topics prone to misinformation
For searches related to health topics that may be prone to misinformation, such as COVID-19 or COVID-19 vaccine, you may see information panels on YouTube featuring links to independent third party resources, such as the World Health Organization. In some places, you’ll see information on COVID-19 in local languages that links to local sources, such as health ministries and centers for disease control.
The panel will be visible on the YouTube homepage, in search results for queries related to COVID-19, and on the watch page for videos related to COVID-19. These panels are intended to help you find third-party authoritative COVID-19 information or COVID-19 vaccine information and are not a judgment on the accuracy of any video.
We also have several policies in our Community Guidelines that are directly applicable to misinformation. The COVID-19 Medical Misinformation policy doesn’t allow content that spreads medical misinformation that contradicts local health authorities’ or the World Health Organization’s (WHO) medical information about COVID-19.
Crisis resources
When you search for topics related to health crises or emotional distress, like suicide or self-harm, a crisis resource panel may appear alongside your search results. These panels let you connect with live support 24/7 from recognized crisis resources. If you want to learn more, the crisis resource panel also links you to the resource’s website. We want to give you information that’s helpful and timely, so you can’t dismiss the crisis resource panel right now.
Respecting your privacy
We understand at YouTube that when you use our platform, you’re trusting us to respect your privacy, especially when it comes to looking for health content. That’s a big responsibility and we work hard to protect your information and put you in control, which is why we offer you easy to use privacy controls. To manage or delete your search or watch history, you can go to Your data in YouTube. You can also browse YouTube while incognito for more private viewing.
We are also dedicated to following advertising regulations for healthcare and medicine, so we expect that ads and destinations follow appropriate laws and industry standards. Learn more about our advertising policies for healthcare and medicines and personalized advertising.