INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
After indicating that it was exploring its options for fighting the potentially deadly rise of anti-vaccination content on its platform
last month, Facebook is making a plan of attack.
Facebook strategy in the effort is to both minimize the spread of vaccination
misinformation and to point users away from inaccurate anti-vaccination propaganda and toward &authoritative information,& i.e
info corroborated by the health and scientific establishment.
To achieve a reduction in the spread of anti-vax propaganda, Facebook will
downrank groups and pages that spread this kind of content across both News Feed and its search function
Facebook will also reject ads promoting anti-vaccination misinformation
Repeat offenders attempting to promote this content through ads may see their accounts disabled
On Instagram, Facebook &won''t show or recommend content that contains misinformation about vaccinations on Instagram Explore or hashtag
pages,& effectively burying that content from public-facing spaces
Facebook noted that it would also remove anti-vax adjacent ad targeting descriptors including the term &vaccine controversies.
Facebook role
in the rise of anti-vaccination or &anti-vax& conspiracy theories came into the spotlight last month
In light of reporting pointing to the responsibility of Facebook and YouTube in spreading this particularly dangerous form of
misinformation, prominent California Rep
Adam Schiff wrote to the two companies demanding &additional information on the steps that you currently take to provide medically accurate
information on vaccinations to your users.
Last month, Bloomberg reported that Facebook was &exploring additional measures to best combat
the problem,& including &reducing or removing this type of content from recommendations, including Groups You Should Join, and demoting it
in search results, while also ensuring that higher quality and more authoritative information is available.
Like other dangerous forms of
online disinformation, the prevalence of anti-vax content has destructive real-world implications
The United States is currently experiencing an outbreak of measles, an entirely preventable infectious disease that is threatening the
health of children and vulnerable populations and creating broad school closures in places like Clark County, Wash.
When Facebook directs
its attention toward reducing the public spread of a particular strain of conspiracy theory or otherwise pernicious content, it tends to do
The problem of course is that such efforts from Facebook and other major tech platforms remain reactionary rather than proactive, meaning
that Facebook next major outbreak of harmful, even deadly algorithmically fueled disinformation is likely just around the corner.
