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It said any videos that contradict expert consensus from local health authorities, such as the NHS or World Health Organization, will be removed.

It follows an announcement by Facebook that it would ban ads that discourage people from getting vaccinated.

However, that restriction will not apply to unpaid posts or comments.

YouTube had already banned "medically unsubstantiated" claims relating to coronavirus on its platform.

But it is now explicitly expanding the policy to include content relating to vaccines.

YouTube Shorts will limit videos to 15 seconds, and the platform will feature creator tools that are similar to Chinese-owned TikTok's.

India banned TikTok and 58 other Chinese apps in June as border tensions rose between the two countries.

At the time, India was TikTok's biggest foreign market, with an estimated 120 million users.

YouTube will also be in competition with a number of local competitors who have rushed in to fill the void after TikTok's ban in India.

The Google-owned service says it will remove anything it deems "medically unsubstantiated".

Chief executive Susan Wojcicki said the media giant wanted to stamp out "misinformation on the platform".

The move follows YouTube banning conspiracy theories falsely linking Covid-19 to 5G networks.

Mrs Wojcicki made the remarks on Wednesday during her first interview since the global coronavirus lockdown began.

"So people saying, ‘Take vitamin C, take turmeric, we’ll cure you,’ those are the examples of things that would be a violation of our policy,” she told CNN.

The documentary - produced by the actor in partnership with his wife Susan - is one of the platform's highest profile and biggest-budgeted factual commissions to date.

The Avengers star is expected to give the Age of AI mass appeal.

One AI expert said there was "lots of eye candy for viewers with short attention spans".

Calum Chace, author of four books on the subject, added that artificial intelligence is a "large, complex, and important" subject.

It is a comment indicative of YouTube's fractious relationship with its users of late.

The video-sharing site saw its annual highlights package become the most-disliked video of all time in December 2018, while in February 2019 it was criticised after deleting the accounts of several prominent YouTubers.

Now a new storm is brewing, and it centres around A-list celebrities.

Zac Efron is the latest Hollywood star to crossover to YouTube, with his first video published on 30 March 2019.

It has almost 10.1 million "dislikes", with more than 82% of its viewers saying they did not enjoy it.

With almost 9.9 million "dislikes", the video for Justin Bieber's 2010 song Baby had filled the bottom slot for several years.

And fans' comments below Baby reveal many "disliked" Rewind in a deliberate effort to bump Bieber off the bottom.

"Justin must be feeling so relieved now," posted one YouTube member, whose comment rapidly attracted more than 1,000 likes itself.

Sony Pictures Entertainment had labelled the video as being a trailer for the movie Khali the Killer.

But its 90 minute duration acted as a giveaway that the upload contained more than just highlights from the film.

The video was wiped after being online for more than six hours but not before news of its availability had spread.

CBR.com - which seems to have been the first news site to report the discovery - described it as an "epic mistake".

Members of the public also made fun of the find via social media.

Last week, a blog post by writer James Bridle highlighted how YouTube was still being swamped by bizarre and indecent videos aimed at children.

The site says it already stops such videos earning advertising revenue.

YouTube said its team was "made up of parents who are committed to improving our apps and getting this right".

But critics say YouTube is not taking enough action by waiting for viewers to report inappropriate videos.

'Something's wrong'

Wiz Khalifa's video "See You Again" featuring singer Charlie Puth hit nearly 2.9 billion views on YouTube on Tuesday morning, taking the top spot for most viewed video from Psy, the Korean pop star behind the previous record holder "Gangnam Style."

"Gangnam Style" held the most viewed video record on YouTube for five years, after surpassing Justin Bieber's "Baby" in November of 2012, YouTube said in a statement on Tuesday.

The new record comes just days before the five-year anniversary of the release of "Gangham Style" on YouTube.

Now, the 24-year-old social media star is accused of exploiting that fan base by allegedly asking underage girls to send him sexually explicit videos of themselves.

Authorities say they found dozens of pornographic videos on Jones' phone when he was arrested at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport earlier this week.

"Mr. Jones is scared," said Gerardo Solon Gutierrez, who was his lawyer until Thursday afternoon when Jones' family fired him.

When CNN contacted Jones' new lawyer, he hung up on the call.

'Prove you're my biggest fan'