Brazil’s Attorney General’s Office has notified YouTube over videos that use artificial intelligence to simulate doctors and other health professionals. The measure follows an analysis by the Ministry of Health’s Saúde com Ciência program, which identified 97 profiles associated with false health information, unproven treatment claims and the promotion of paid products, courses or services.
According to the Brazilian Ministry of Health, the profiles used human-like avatars, fictional professional qualifications and alarmist language to create an appearance of authority. The government said the content could make viewers believe they were receiving guidance from qualified medical professionals when, in fact, the characters were artificially created.
The notification was sent by the Attorney General’s Office on September 4, 2026. The Ministry of Health publicly disclosed the action on September 8 and requested that the identified videos be removed or clearly labeled to indicate the use of artificial characters. The information was also forwarded to Brazil’s Federal Police and the Federal Council of Medicine.
How the videos can put patients at risk
The government’s concern goes beyond the use of artificial intelligence itself. The analyzed material allegedly combined simulated medical authority with promises of cures that lacked scientific support. Such messages may encourage self-medication, the use of ineffective therapies, delays in seeking professional care or the interruption of treatments already prescribed by health professionals.
The Ministry of Health said some of the profiles were aimed particularly at older people. This audience may be more vulnerable to content that presents a familiar-looking “doctor,” uses urgent language or offers an apparently simple solution to a complex health problem. The use of an artificial avatar can make it more difficult for viewers to distinguish between educational content, advertising and potentially harmful misinformation.
Health information shared online can influence decisions about prevention, diagnosis and treatment. For that reason, a video that appears to come from a medical expert may have consequences even when it does not provide a formal prescription. The central issue identified by authorities is the false attribution of expertise and the commercial use of that credibility.
Government asks for removal or clear labeling
The request to YouTube gives the platform two possible responses for the identified material: remove the videos or apply clear labels explaining that the characters shown are artificial. The official announcement did not indicate how YouTube responded to the notification or whether all of the reported videos had already been taken down.
The case adds to other actions reported by Brazil’s health authorities involving misleading or illegal health-related content online. In a separate September 2026 announcement, the Ministry of Health reported that the Attorney General’s Office had acted against 18 Telegram groups and channels that sold fake vaccination passports, according to the ministry’s official report. The two cases involve different types of content, but both illustrate the government’s broader concern about digital platforms being used to spread deceptive health-related material.
What users should check before trusting health content
Viewers should be cautious when a video presents a supposed medical professional without identifying a verifiable registration, institution or professional history. A realistic face or voice is not proof of medical training, and artificial intelligence can reproduce the appearance and speech patterns associated with authority.
Before changing medication, stopping treatment or adopting a therapy promoted online, people should seek advice from a qualified health professional and consult reliable institutional sources. Claims involving guaranteed cures, secret methods, urgent offers or paid products deserve particular scrutiny, especially when the content discourages viewers from seeking conventional medical care.
The Brazilian case also highlights a growing challenge for platforms, regulators and the public: identifying synthetic content that is designed to look trustworthy. As artificial intelligence tools become more capable of producing realistic characters, clear disclosure and independent verification become increasingly important for protecting patients from misinformation.
