It’s not yet clear whether the proliferation of anti-vaccination content online has led to a significant decrease in vaccination rates in the United States. (Though they also say there remains plenty to be concerned about when it comes to misinformation.) While there is little public data about user behavior on Facebook, researchers have found signs that the reach of fake news declined between 20 midterm elections. The company admits it won’t catch everything, and demonstrably fake stories still do go viral. (A major study released Monday found no link between the MMR vaccine-which protects against measles, mumps, and rubella-and autism.)įacebook increased its efforts to fight false information more broadly on the platform in the wake of the 2016 presidential election, including with initiatives like third-party fact-checking.
On Wednesday, an 18-year-old from Ohio testified before the Senate that his mother primarily received misinformation about vaccines on Facebook and opted not to inoculate him. He followed up with a similar letter to Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos last week. Last month, Adam Schiff, a Democratic representative from California, sent letters to the CEOs of YouTube and Facebook demanding they answer questions about the spread of anti-vaccine information on their company’s platforms. Facebook also told media outlets in February that it was looking into how it should address anti-vaccination content. The decision was widely anticipated: Facebook, along with YouTube and Amazon, has faced criticism from journalists and lawmakers in recent weeks for allowing vaccine misinformation to flourish on their sites. The company also said it was exploring ways to give users more context about vaccines from “expert organizations.” The social network will not take down anti-vaccine posts entirely, however. It will no longer allow it to be promoted through ads or recommendations, and will make it less prominent in search results. As Clark County, Washington, combats an ongoing measles outbreak, Facebook announced Thursday that it’s diminishing the reach of anti-vaccine information on its platform.
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