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How the fight over vaccines is fueled by web forums
[...] But as Wang notes, groups have been just as vulnerable to hate speech, misinformation, and other woes that plague the News Feed. In the Guardian, Ed Pilkington and Jessica Glenza explore that downside, focusing on how anti-vaccination ghouls take advantage of Facebook’s viral distribution to spread propaganda:
Facebook is increasingly engaged in combatting misinformation that causes “real-world harm”. Yet despite the health risks, anti-vaccination propaganda is currently not treated as a breach of its content rules.
The Guardian asked Facebook to respond to the proliferation of vaccine misinformation on its platform, but the company did not reply.
In a Twitter thread, misinformation researcher Renee DiResta blames the groups’ rise on Facebook’s recommendation algorithm. “The FB recommendation engine actively pushes the larger ones like Stop Mandatory Vaccination at new parents,” she writes. “If you’re in a mom group, you’ll get antivax group recs.” She went on: “This is where the platform has real power to change. Take them out of the [recommendation] engine. YouTube recognizes that proactively pushing conspiracy theories is harmful; Facebook has the same problem but still does it.”
Until that happens, some children of anti-vaccination parents are taking matter into their own hands. Emily Moon reports that some nervous but resourceful young people are seeking advice ... from Reddit forums.
(Score: 2) by realDonaldTrump on Thursday February 14 2019, @09:27PM
I'm not totally against vaccine. For me to get the Flu Shot, that's very very rare to happen. When they say it's going to be a really big season for flu, maybe I get the shot. But, usually not. I don’t like the idea of injecting bad stuff into your body, which is basically what they do. I say, why am I doing this? And a lot of times, I see my friends getting the shot -- and then getting the flu. Thus far I’ve never had it.
And I think the doctors forget, tiny children are not horses. I am being proven right about massive vaccinations -- the doctors lied. Save our children & their future. One vaccine at a time, over time.