All humor and Queen references aside, this is a very serious topic people. Social media is on the rise, and the majority of people are lying if they say they don’t browse AT LEAST one social media platform multiple times a day. If those many platforms allow people to misinform the masses, then we have created a pandemic of stupidity. This is what is happening with the anti-vaccination movement.
Read from a NY Times article posted in March of 2019, Facebook announced that it was going to combat the misinformation on vaccinations being published and shared to their specific platform. Though they are not the first social media company to begin this movement, it is still a huge deal for one with their grasp on society. To accomplish this, Facebook will be making incorrect vaccine content harder to find rather than removing it completely. The people/groups/pages that this information are less likely to be found by other or recommended by the Facebook site itself. Facebook is also the owner of another top tier social media platform, Instagram, and they will be adopting similar policies on combating misinformation as well. This new policy happens around the measles outbreaks occurring internationally and within the U.S. The A.I. tech involved in Facebook will be the first line of defense for this new policy by scanning posts, photos, etc. for false information on previously debunked vaccine news.
The anti-vaccination movement goes back to the 1800’s, a fact that I was not aware of. When the smallpox vaccine was introduced, so was anti-vaccination. A society for people opposed to vaccinations was started in the late 1800’s for refusal to be vaccinated against smallpox. People associated the DTaP vaccine with neurological issues before Wakefield’s study in 1998. Many books and documentaries have been published on the “dangers” of vaccination. As a society of people who live on Earth, it appears we have a staggering inability to do further research after seeing/hearing one frightening thing.
Facebooks actions are the first step in changing the way people view vaccinations. However, with only making incorrect posts further down on a feed without complete removal or refutation the issue will persist. The people who still advocate for not vaccinating will still have access to this mis-information and spread it on the next social media outlet. As we can see from looking into our history, social media didn’t start this movement. However, it has the potential to end it. People want to trust that what they see on their timelines is accurate, and if Facebook is only making incorrect information an extra scroll down in a feed, then nothing is going to change. People have a right to their freedom of speech (thank you first amendment), but we also have a right to protect our species from harmful diseases that are preventable!!!!!
Ashley Broke's Blog 