# COVID-Related Misinformation Migration to BitChute and Odysee
###### Abstract
Reuters reported that BitChute users falsely claimed COVID-19 vaccines caused cancers that \"literally eat you\" and spread the debunked claim that Microsoft founder [PERSON] caused a global baby-formula shortage. A video entitled 'DR. [PERSON]: COVID-19 VACCINES CAUSING AN ALARMING UPTICK IN CANERS' ([[https://www.bitchute.com/video/BFrivyg3](https://www.bitchute.com/video/BFrivyg3) Yut0/--accessed]([https://www.bitchute.com/video/BFrivyg3](https://www.bitchute.com/video/BFrivyg3) Yut0/--accessed) on 24 October 2022) claimed that the COVID-19 vaccine is responsible for an increase in cancer. At the same time, the American Cancer Society explains that no information suggests that COVID-19 vaccines cause cancer. BitChute said in a statement to Reuters that BitChute's North Star is free speech, which is the cornerstone of a free and democratic society. Nevertheless, what happens when freedom of speech can cause negative consequences in public health matters? A search on the BitChute platform with the keywords 'covid19 children' returns many results. The top 5 results (on June 2022) are videos claiming that children should not be vaccinated and that vaccines will kill children. These videos containing false claims received high engagement by BitChute users with more than 15,000 views and an average of \(\sim\)284 likes posing risks to children's health by influencing many parents' decisions on child vaccination. Only a meagre percentage of users seems to contradict these claims (average value of dislikes \(\approx\)7). A 26 min video called \"The Plandemic\" became viral on social media, affecting a large number of users and gaining millions of views and comments. The video was removed from mainstream platforms soon after it became viral but had a major impact on COVID-19 misinformation. Although the original video was removed from the platforms, many videos analyzing its content spread continue to appear on the platforms (Figure 1a). Additionally, a search on BitChute with the keyword 'COVID-19' returns several videos, with the first result being the Plandemic (Figure 1b). This example is telltale of a more general trend: users whose videos are removed by mainstream platforms turn to other online spaces to share their content. Motivated by this observation, in this study, we analyze this content migration trend from YouTube to BitChute and Odysee, using as a starting point a publicly available dataset of YouTube COVID-related misinformation videos that YouTube has removed. Google Trends data also suggest that the BitChute platform has been growing in popularity since early 2019, peaking in May 2020, when the Plandemic video appeared, and then in early January. Figure 2 illustrated the analysis of Google Trends on BitChute and Odysee search terms worldwide and for the last five years. Odysee follows a similar growth path as BitChute but with somewhat lower rates. In addition, some studies focus mainly on the content generated on BitChute [4; 5]; however, little is known about the platforms' user base and network, the content they generate (especially Odysee) and their interaction with other platforms. To address the above gaps, this study contributes to the study of the following aspects:  
Figure 1: (**a**) Screenshot of the Plandemic misinformation video entitled ‘VERIFY: “The Plandemic” documentary being shared on social media is full of misinformation’. The video still exists on the platform with a verification tag. Accessed on June 2022 and (**b**) Search on BitChute with the keyword ‘COVID 19’ accessed on June 2022. * Migration of misinformation from the YouTube mainstream platform to alternative low content-moderation platforms, namely Bitchute and Odysee. * Analysis of the characteristics of misinformation dissemination in Bitchute and Odysee. * Analysis of how users engage with misinformation videos in Bitchute and Odysee.