Previously, Facebook had a policy against vaccine hoaxes that were evaluated by global health organizations. The ban is followed by multiple bans that Facebook implemented over the last few weeks. These include a ban on Holocaust denial, suppression of groups and pages embracing the QAnon conspiracy theory, and a temporary ban on political ads until the elections.
Facebook said in a blog post that it would still be allowing ads that advocate for or against government policies around vaccines, including the coronavirus vaccine. An example of such an ad is one made by a state delegate candidate in Virginia that said, “STOP FORCED CORONAVIRUS VACCINATIONS! … All medications have risks, and we believe discussion alone of mandating a vaccine before it’s released, without knowing if there’s long term side effects, is both premature and dangerous.”
On the other hand, ads that openly discourage vaccines by misleading the audience into believing that vaccines are unsafe will be banned. “If an ad that advocates for/against legislation or government policies explicitly discourages a vaccine, it will be rejected,” a spokesperson wrote. “That includes portraying vaccines as useless, ineffective, unsafe or unhealthy, describing the diseases vaccines are created for as harmless, or the ingredients in vaccines as harmful or deadly.”
The public trust in the vaccine has been declining from 70% of Americans agreeing in May to take a vaccine once it becomes available to 50% in September, according to Pew Research Center.
“I think a lot vaccine [hesitancy] researchers know the potential that Facebook has to promote vaccine hesitancy,” said Kolina Koltai, a vaccine researcher at the Center for an Informed Public at the University of Washington.
“This is one step in the correct direction but still there is much work to be done to correct the damage that has already been done.” The researcher also pointed out that there is still a lot of anti-vaccine content on groups and pages.
Facebook would be enforcing the new policy in the next few days.
I am Sophia william, author of World Stock Market. I have a degree in journalism from the University of Missouri and I have worked as a reporter for several news websites. I have a passion for writing and informing people about the latest news and events happening in the world. I strive to be accurate and unbiased in my reporting, and I hope to provide readers with valuable information that they can use to make informed decisions.
