A worldwide measles increase has led social media companies to actively work towards helping the World Health Organization (WHO) prevent the spread of false information about vaccines.
The WHO notes that between January to July of 2019, there has been around three times as many cases of measles reported than in the same time the year before.
Social media application Pinterest will now only share credible information from public health organizations for search terms such as “measles” and “vaccine safety”, including information on the number of lives vaccines have saved each year and a message stating, “If you’re looking for medical advice, please contact a healthcare provider.”
Ifeoma Ozoma, Public Policy and Social Impact Manager of Pinterest, says, “We’re taking this approach because we believe that showing vaccine misinformation alongside resources from public health experts isn’t responsible.”
Other social media companies have also changed their algorithms and demonetized anti-vaccination videos thanks to the American Academy of Pediatrics requesting that online users only receive “credible, science-based information”.
