MENLO PARK, Calif. — Social media giant Facebook announced earlier this week that it would take a bold stance against accounts that are spreading misinformation about vaccinations.
“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,” Monika Bickert, the vice president of global policy management said in a press release. “If these vaccine hoaxes appear on Facebook we will take action against them.”
Facebook announced that it will take the following actions to reduce the spread of misinformation on the site:
- Reduce the ranks of groups and pages in News Feed and Search; Groups and pages that spread misinformation about vaccines will not be included in recommendations or predictions in Facebook’s Search feature.
- Ads including misinformation about vaccinations will be rejected. Targeting options such as “vaccine controversies,” has also been removed, Bickert said. Ad accounts that violate the site’s policies may be disabled.
- The company is exploring ways to share educational information about vaccines.
- The company will also extend similar actions to its photo sharing platform Instagram, barring misinformation on Instagram Explore or hashtag pages.
“We also believe in providing people with additional context so they can decide whether to read, share, or engage in conversations about the information they see on Facebook,” Bickert said.
Medical professionals say there is a huge amount of misinformation about the risks and benefits of vaccines.
Dr. Dean Blumberg is the Chief of Infectious Diseases with the University of California Davis Children's Hospital in Sacramento, California.
"Much of this is driven by conspiracy theories," Dr. Blumberg said.
Vaccines have saved more lives than all other medical interventions combined, Blumberg said.
"They are the most important personal and public health actions ever," Blumberg said.
Misinformation has led to a decrease in immunization rates which have led to outbreaks of diseases that are preventable through the use of vaccines, Blumberg said. He cited the recent measles outbreak in Southern Washington and Portland.
"Facebook's new policy is a step in the right direction to curbing "fake news" that has deterred some from getting vaccinated, even though the misinformation has been discredited by mainstream science," Blumberg said.
Facebook is exploring ways to provide more accurate information from expert organizations about Vaccines when people search the subject, on pages and groups discussing the topic. The company is planning to provide an update on its plans soon, Bickert said.
This comes as Facebook has made a series of policy shifts in recent months to combat false news stories, accounts, and other efforts to tackle misinformation.
The CDC has information on its site for anyone who wants to learn more about vaccines. You can visit that site by clicking here.
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