Facebook, Google, CDC under pressure to stop anti-vax garbage from spreading

[workinclasszero]

Facebook ponders demoting anti-vax nonsense as measles cases surge.

BETH MOLE - 2/15/2019, 1:05 PM

With five measles outbreaks ongoing in the US, lawmakers are questioning both health officials and tech giants on their efforts to combat the noxious anti-vaccine misinformation fueling the spread of disease.

Last week, Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.), chairman of the Senate health committee, along with ranking member Patty Murray (D-Wash.) sent a letter to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Health and Human Services. The lawmakers asked what health officials were doing to fight misinformation and help states dealing with outbreaks. “Many factors contribute to vaccine hesitancy, all of which demand attention from CDC and [HHS’ National Vaccine Program Office],” the lawmakers wrote. On Thursday, February 14, the committee announced that it will hold a hearing on the subject on March 5.

Also Thursday, Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) sent letters to Google CEO Sundar Pichai and Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg. In them, Schiff expressed concern over the outbreaks as well as the tech companies’ role in enabling the dissemination of medically inaccurate information.

If “concerned” parents see phony vaccine information in their Facebook newsfeeds or YouTube recommendations, “it could cause them to disregard the advice of their children’s physicians and public health experts and decline to follow the recommended vaccination schedule,” Schiff wrote in both letters. “Repetition of information, even if false, can often be mistaken for accuracy, and exposure to anti-vaccine content via social media may negatively shape user attitudes towards vaccination."

Schiff referenced a recent Guardian article reporting that searches on both Facebook and YouTube easily led users to anti-vaccine garbage. He also expressed concern over a report that Facebook accepts payments for anti-vaccine ads.

https://arstechnica.com/science/2019/02/facebook-working-on-additional-changes-to-beat-down-anti-vaxxers/

[TalenaGor]

1. sometimes I think we take this 'people should be allowed to believe whatever they want to believe' t

There should be a limit like.... sure believe it inside your head but don't let it damage anyone else.....

that goes for religion and climate change and all sorts of things it's absolutely stupid that we allow dumbassery to damage the Earth & our species....