The outbreak of measles, a disease that was completely eradicated is plaguing middle US, people are blaming anti-vaxxers for this recent epidemic and the return of the deadly virus. Anti-vaxxers are groups that think vaccinations against, measles, polio and other diseases are not required and instead belief they cause for harm than good. While its a complete hoax, the certain groups have managed to impose their ideology to a bigger audience due the easy accessibility of platforms that can spread to thousands and millions in seconds. Facebook were one of those which did not help in anyway allying the spread of the fake information about vaccine.
After a few deaths and the return of measles, Facebook is working on tackling the vaccine misinformation on its site by reducing its distribution and providing people with the right information on the topic. Rankings of groups and Pages that spread the misinformation will be reduced, taking down ads related to stopping the use of vaccine and will also apply in Instagram. Too late?
To blame of Facebook on all the disasters, war, epidemic, government fall, market crash, suicide will be too much, but the truth of the fact is the social media platform plays a big role in changing peoples beliefs and perception. Mark Zuckerberg needs to take responsibility of what he had created and not only enjoy the perks but also address the growing concerns of how vulnerable the platform is to manipulation. For now the track record for Facebook is looking very tainted.
Anti-vaxxers have imposed their beliefs about vaccination and how they can harm children a complete hoax according to the World Health Organisation and other health bodies. With just a few that followed that notion, thanks to social media and clever trolling the belief garnered huge supports and now US has a crisis. Actions like taking down a whole group or page or reduce these groups and pages’ distribution in News Feed and Search, are good steps forward, but the timing needs to questioned. There are instances when quick action is paramount, but who will make that call at Facebook? Mark?
