SoylentNews is people
SoylentNews
Submitted via IRC for chromas
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: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Friday February 15 2019, @12:14AM (2 children)
As a parent this also concerns me. I took maybe like 12 vaccines up until I was 18. I lived through Chicken Pox, Rubella, and all the other staples. It was annoying, but it didn't kill me. And if it had killed few kids, well maybe that's evolution. Vaccinating us against every disease will results in a much weaker herd in few generations.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Friday February 15 2019, @12:24AM
Why don't you just avoid all healthcare for you and your kids? Evolution in action.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Friday February 15 2019, @12:27AM
The fact that you are a parent concerns me too.