-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.