Like health officials facing outbreaks of disease, internet companies are trying to contain vaccine-related misinformation they have long helped spread. So far, their efforts at quarantine are falling short.
"The online world has been one that has been very much taken over by misinformation spread by concerned parents," said Richard Carpiano, a professor of public policy and sociology at the University of California, Riverside, who studies vaccine trends."Medical doctors don't command the sort of authority they did decades ago. There is a lack of confidence in institutions people had faith in.
On Facebook's Instagram, hashtags such as "vaccineskill" and accounts against vaccinating children are easily found with a simple search for "vaccines." Still, experts in online misinformation say social networking and the way its algorithms disseminate the most "engaging" posts - whether true or not - have fuelled the spread of anti-vaccination propaganda and pushed parents into the anti-vax camp.
Despite high-profile outbreaks , overall vaccination rates remain high in the US, according to the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention. But the percentage of children under 2 who haven't received any vaccines is growing.
Its obvious that whether you've had shots or not.our kids are still getting sick at same rate 50/50 actually the kids that had shots were sicker and took longer to recover. Now work that shit out Vaccines r shit & it's a shame that some of the whistleblower scientists end up dead