-The largest measles outbreak
in 25 years.
-Leading to new concerns
about a lack of vaccinations.
-This is a public health crisis.
-Anti-vaccination messaging
has had a resurgence
in recent years,
despite extensive evidence
disproving links
to health issues
such as autism.
Hundreds of cases of measles
have been reported across
at least 23 states in 2019 --
the largest outbreak
since well before 2000,
when the disease was considered
eliminated in the United States.
Misinformation surrounding the
safety of vaccines is not new,
but the current spread
has been driven
in large part
by social media.
Private and public Facebook
groups share images
and videos of children
with disturbing health issues
allegedly caused by vaccines.
Some of these groups
have more than 100,000 members.
This story about triplets
who purportedly developed autism
just hours after
being vaccinated
was posted in
the Vaccine Injury Stories
group on Facebook, which has
more than 28,000 members.
The CDC says there's no link
between vaccines and autism,
and a massive body of research
supports this position.
On Instagram, anti-vaccines post
memes demonizing mandatory
vaccinations and supporting
the right for parents to choose
whether or not
to vaccinate their kids.
And when you type "vaccines"
in Instagram's search field,
top results show accounts that
promote anti-vaccinate content.
When you search for vaccines
on YouTube,
the platform's algorithm curates
videos from official sources
like the CDC and hospitals.
However, loopholes
in the system
suggest content that promotes
false information on vaccines,
and the platform suggests
videos in the "Up Next"
column that can feature
misleading material.
-Social media are relatively
easy to manipulate
and to use to influence people,
especially when they
are vulnerable
because they are
looking for information,
and they're concerned
about their children.
-Branding of the anti-vaccine
message has evolved, too.
-There are people on --
and actors on social media
that have a product to sell.
It may be their book.
It may be what they tout
as an alternative to vaccines.
One of the changes
that we've begun to note is,
you know, more of a framing
of the issue as vaccine choice.
The parent should be able
to make a decision
about whether they get
their children vaccinated.
The challenge with that and what
we're seeing
is while the framing of it
is vaccine choice,
much of the content
remains the same.
-Social media organizations
claim they are
addressing the problem.
Instagram has pledged
to block anti-vaccine hashtags.
Facebook announced it would stop
suggesting users join pages
and groups that feature
anti-vaccine material.
YouTube said it would not
allow users
to make money through ads
on anti-vaccine videos.
Health organizations are taking
on the misinformation
using pro-vaccine campaigns
in the social space,
and early research indicates
they may be having some impact.
-Our recent results --
they are still preliminary
because we're still
analyzing them.
We haven't published them yet,
but they suggest that there has
ben a consistent large cluster
or group of accounts
that spread a lot of
misinformation about vaccines.
In the last, you know,
couple of years,
we seem to see a shift
where this cluster of accounts
that are mostly
spreading misinformation
is shrinking somewhat,
and they seem to interact more,
be more influenced by sources
of reliable information.
-Despite these encouraging
findings
and the commitments
from social platforms,
misinformation on vaccines
continues to proliferate online.
-I think it undermines trust --
trust in research,
trust in science,
and trust in government agencies
that are charged
with protecting
the public's health.
That's a dangerous
and slippery slope.
