The St. Louis County Council will move away from using YouTube as its streaming service this month. 

After Oct. 19, council meetings will be exclusively streamed on a new platform called BoxCast. 

The switch comes after YouTube has temporarily censored four previous County Council meetings due to its policy against COVID-19 misinformation. 

Members of the public have spoken against masks, vaccines and other COVID-19 restrictions during public comment at several meetings. Some have claimed that the virus is a hoax or that the vaccine is part of a larger government conspiracy. 

“In our continual effort to make County Council business fully transparent and available to all residents, we are upgrading our streaming services,” a press release stated. 

According to the press release, BoxCast gives the county complete control of its content and can be integrated into the county’s iCompass system, which is used for agenda and meeting management. 

That integration will happen sometime in the upcoming months. 

BoxCast is part of the services provided by iCompass and is free to use. 

Council Budget Policy Coordinator Chris Grahn-Howard said the only cost associated with BoxCast will be a $1,500 yearly fee to provide live closed-captioning in order to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act. 

The county will stream simultaneously to BoxCast and YouTube until Tuesday, Oct. 19, at which time the county will stream exclusively to BoxCast. 

The County Council’s website landing page, as well as public notices, meeting notices and agendas advise of the upcoming switch. 

Access the county’s BoxCast at boxcast.tv/channel/wdeojvfau9uqc9qt6k8z.