Facebook cracks down on vaccine misinformation
In a blog post, the Menlo Park, Calif. company said it will reject any ads containing misinformation about vaccines, remove any targeted advertising options like 'vaccine controversies,' and will no longer show or recommend content containing this type of misinformation on Instagram Explore or hashtag pages."
Submitted via IRC for FatPhil
Combatting Vaccine Misinformation
We are working to tackle vaccine misinformation on Facebook by reducing its distribution and providing people with authoritative information on the topic.
[...] Leading global health organizations, such as the World Health Organization and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, have publicly identified verifiable vaccine hoaxes. If these vaccine hoaxes appear on Facebook, we will take action against them.
For example, if a group or Page admin posts this vaccine misinformation, we will exclude the entire group or Page from recommendations, reduce these groups and Pages’ distribution in News Feed and Search, and reject ads with this misinformation.
We also believe in providing people with additional context so they can decide whether to read, share, or engage in conversations about information they see on Facebook. We are exploring ways to give people more accurate information from expert organizations about vaccines at the top of results for related searches, on Pages discussing the topic, and on invitations to join groups about the topic. We will have an update on this soon.
We are fully committed to the safety of our community and will continue to expand on this work.
(Score: 2, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday March 14 2019, @03:26PM (15 children)
No, it's just being fucking stupid. Especially for vaccines that actually work. The only vaccine that doesn't really work well is the flu vaccine, but the rest, it's a fucking no-brainer.
http://mynorthwest.com/1302286/critical-pediatrician-washington-legislation-personal-exemptions/ [mynorthwest.com]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday March 14 2019, @03:35PM (2 children)
I can't wait to see the mental gymnastics when Trump starts making pro-vaccine noises. All of a sudden the same people will fear and hate vaccines, and want them to be banned.
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday March 14 2019, @04:37PM (1 child)
Just because an idiot can be right, doesn't make the right thing wrong, ok? If Trump said he loved vaccines and started a push to mandate all basic vaccines for kids in US without medical cause, then that would just make him that much smaller idiot. He'd still be an idiot though.
Only total idiots act like you propose. Sadly, they probably exist.
(Score: 2) by DannyB on Thursday March 14 2019, @05:36PM
Absolutely.
Trump has made a few decisions* that I approve of. That doesn't mean he isn't an idiot. And possibly a dangerous one.
* what they are is irrelevant
People today are educated enough to repeat what they are taught but not to question what they are taught.
(Score: 2) by fyngyrz on Thursday March 14 2019, @04:08PM (9 children)
It's actually worse than that. It's also actively putting others in increased danger without their informed consent.
It's reasonably comparable to standing in a thin-walled house in a densely populated suburb and blindly firing a high powered weapon in random directions through those walls.
--
If attacked by a mob of clowns,
go for the juggler.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday March 14 2019, @04:21PM (8 children)
Everything a person does could put other people "in increased danger without their informed consent". Your post has just pissed someone off somewhere and increased the danger to everyone around them.
It sounds like you are confused between "unvaccinated" and "ill with an infectious disease".
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday March 14 2019, @04:41PM (1 child)
When it comes to most of these diseases, like polio or measles, the two are the same
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday March 14 2019, @06:10PM
In what way?
(Score: 2) by fyngyrz on Thursday March 14 2019, @05:10PM (5 children)
This isn't about some vague, unlikely consequence of unintentional "could" — this is about intentionally does.
No. It's just that you don't understand that not being vaccinated increases the chance of self, and others, becoming ill with an infectious disease in a completely unnecessary way — except for those who are actually allergic to the vaccine and so cannot participate.
The sequence of events is obvious and undeniable without exposing oneself as a complete idiot:
--
Eschew Obfuscation.
(Score: 0, Disagree) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday March 14 2019, @06:15PM (4 children)
I don't think you get it. Being alive increases the chance others will get ill, whether vaccinated or not. It would be better to just kill everyone according to your nonsensical reasoning devoid of any quantification or cost-benefit analysis.
There is no way you made it to adulthood while applying this level of reasoning to other aspects of your life, so I am forced to assume you are trolling or brainwashed by some sort of propaganda to say such things.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday March 14 2019, @08:34PM (3 children)
Either you are an idiot or you are being intentionally obtuse. Frankly, neither choice is a particularly attractive look for you. If I'm not mistaken, in legal terms, there is such a thing as "foreseeable harm". (IANAL, so you should check this out for yourself.) Considering the example of a person in a thin-walled house firing out in all directions with a high-powered weapon, most reasonable people can foresee the unacceptably high hazard involved. On the other hand, your asinine assertion that merely being alive presents its own set of risks to everyone else around them shows that you have not thought very much about what either of the words cost or benefit actually means. Consequently, I don't think you are in a position to do any analysis of your options regarding vaccination (or whatever). Just my $0.02 worth.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday March 14 2019, @08:57PM (2 children)
My "asinine assertion" is just what happens if one follows your reasoning to logical conclusion. A person sitting in their own home may as well be shooting a machine gun in random directions according to you, they are such a danger to others.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday March 14 2019, @11:54PM (1 child)
Go back. Reread what I actually wrote. Then, (optionally) respond. Remember: Read. Think. Post. Do not change this order.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday March 15 2019, @03:32AM
I read what you wrote, it was idiotic. You compared a non-sick individual hanging out in their house to someone shooting a machine gun in every direction.
(Score: 1) by khallow on Thursday March 14 2019, @08:45PM (1 child)
One could buy over 16k tetanus shots (assuming $50 per) at that price. Assuming an average lifespan of 80 years and 10 years per shot, that's 2k people immunized for life against tetanus.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday March 14 2019, @08:59PM
It is the "chargemaster price" totally unconnected to reality. They are just random numbers on a piece of paper so idiots can point to how much healthcare they (or in this case someone else) got.