Facebook has promised to crack down on Covid-19 vaccine misinformation, but misleading posts remain easy to find

Facebook has promised to crack down on Covid-19 vaccine misinformation, but misleading posts remain easy to find

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Facebook has been striving to address antivaxxer content for years. At the end of last year, it established new rules to deal with the misinformation of the Covid-19 vaccine after committing itself two years ago to reducing the spread of antivaxxer content. But the deceptive and stimulating content about Covid’s vaccines, as well as total disinformation, continues to spread on the platform at a time when the stakes could not be greater: disinformation about the vaccine can mean life or death.

Four of the top 10 search results for Facebook’s “vaccine” on Instagram were for anti-vaccination accounts, including “vaccinetruth,” “vaccinefreedom”, “antivaxxknowthefacts” and “cv19vaccinereactions”, according to a series of surveys conducted by CNN Business from several different Instagram addresses starting two weeks ago.

Shortly afterwards, Instagram updated its search interface on mobile devices to show three reliable results, including the CDC account, followed by a “See more results” prompt. Users who click on this option then see a series of anti-vaccination accounts, in what is arguably the digital equivalent of pushing the mess in a room under the bed.

Some of these accounts have accumulated a considerable following, raising the question of whether Instagram has suggested them as the primary outcome for users who simply seek information about vaccines has helped them grow their audience. The “cv19vaccinereactions” account, which is dedicated to documenting allegations of adverse reactions to the vaccine, has more than 77,000 followers. The report often shares unproven reports and implies unproven connections between people who received the Covid-19 vaccine and major health events, including a stroke or miscarriage.

The fact that some of that antivaxx content continues to hide in plain sight on all platforms highlights a controversial distinction in Facebook’s approach: A company spokesman says Facebook specifically distinguishes between vaccine misinformation, which is repressed, and posts that express a more general anti-vaccine sentiment, which allows on the platform.

In December, Facebook said it would remove claims about coronavirus vaccines that were unmasked by public health officials, including unfounded conspiracy theories that they contain microchips. Previously, Facebook’s policies prohibited disinformation about Covid-19 which “contributed to the risk of imminent violence or physical harm”.

Public health experts fear that misinformation about Covid-19 vaccines and anti-vaccination content in general on social media may lead people to refuse the injection. “If they are frightened by falsehoods perpetuated through social media, we will have a real problem getting out of this pandemic,” said Dr. LJ Tan, director of strategy for the Immunization Action Coalition (IAC).

Joe Osborne, a Facebook spokesman, said the company has been working to “reduce the number of people who see false information” about vaccines and is trying to do “more to deal with other misleading vaccine content that does not fit these policies” .

Osborne added that the company removes claims about the Covid-19 vaccine that were unmasked by public health experts and adds labels and reduces the distribution of other incorrect information determined to be false by its third-party fact-checking partners.

When a measles outbreak swept the United States almost two years ago, Facebook pledged to fight misinformation about vaccines, limiting the reach of that content on its platforms, but did not quite ban it. In March 2019, Facebook said it would “reduce the ranking of groups and pages that spread misinformation about vaccines” by not including them in recommendations or forecasts when users type in the search bar. But two months later, CNN Business found that Instagram was still displaying messages from anti-vaccination accounts and anti-vaccination hashtags to anyone looking for the word “vaccines.”
While Facebook removed a large private group dedicated to anti-vaccine content in November 2020, CNN Business found that more than 20 anti-xxx groups remain on the platform, with members ranging from a few hundred to tens of thousands of users. (The company said the group removed in November was flagged for violating its recidivism policies – which prevents managers from creating another group similar to the one the company removed – in addition to violating its policies against the QAnon conspiracy.)

When searching the word “vaccine” on Facebook’s groups resource last week, three of the top 20 results reported by the platform led to groups promoting anti-vaccine content, including groups called “Say No Covid 19 Vaccine”, “COVID-19 Vaccine Injury Stories “and” Vaccine Talk: A Forum for Professionals and Anti Vaxxers “- which has more than 50,000 members. The list fluctuates. A few days later, none of these groups were in the top 20, but results from 18 to 20 pointed to groups discussing the vaccine’s side effects or adverse reactions. Going down even further, it was easy to find other anti-xxxxx groups in the survey results, including one titled “Unvaccinated and Thriving”, which makes claims widely and consistently debunked in its description linking vaccines with autism and other disorders and diseases. It’s unclear what drives Facebook’s search recommendations and why results change daily. Facebook did not offer a clear explanation after repeated requests for comment.

Dr. Wafaa El-Sadr, professor of epidemiology and medicine at Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health, called misinformation about vaccines on social media “very dangerous” and said it could have “dire consequences”.

“We are in a race with the virus,” she said. “We need all those eligible for vaccines to be vaccinated as soon as possible.”

A public Facebook group, which has more than 58,000 members, is dedicated to posts about alleged “injuries and reactions to the vaccine”. Several recent posts on the group’s page include links that have been marked as “false information” by Facebook’s independent fact checkers or have a label saying “Missing context. Independent fact checkers say that this information can mislead people.” A link that was shared – and labeled as fake by independent fact checkers – claimed that 53 people died in Gibraltar from the Covid-19 vaccine. Despite the warning labels, group members continue to engage with these links, expressing their doubts about Facebook’s fact checkers and sharing unsubstantiated stories or theories about vaccines being dangerous.

“A story doesn’t have to be accurate to change minds. That’s what we’re fighting now,” said Tan from IAC. “In the internet age, science is not the most convincing story.”

Columbia’s El-Sadr warned people to be wary of anecdotes or individual stories they read on these Facebook groups – which may or may not be true or have any connection to the vaccine.

“The vast majority of people so far have received uneventful vaccinations,” she said. “We need to keep reminding people of this. These vaccines have a very safe profile and are incredibly effective.”

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