Facebook appears to be running anti-vaccination ads - even though it has placed a ban on these ads. Anti-vaccination, or more simply “anti-vax” ads have attracted heated debate with many claiming they are a form of misinformation, and one that could in some cases prove deadly. Facebook agrees, for the most part.
Regardless of which side of the vaccination debate an individual falls on, the consensus among medical professionals is that it is better to vaccinate. In spite of the consensus, the last couple of years has seen a growing number of incidents where anti-vaccination information has been shared on social media. The sharing of such information has even been attributed as one of the causes of a recent measles outbreak in the U.S., leading to U.S. Representative, Adam Schiff, penning a letter to Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg asking for the company to take additional steps to address the inaccurate medical information “growing problem.” Facebook has since taken additional steps including cracking down on vaccine misinformation on Facebook and Instagram.
As noted by BuzzFeed News, both Facebook and Instagram appear to be showing ads that promote an alleged natural alternative to the vaccination for pertussis - more commonly known as whooping cough. This is an illness that kills many young people each year. The vaccine is generally considered safe by many institutions, with both the CDC and the World Health Organization advocating its use. In other words, ads discouraging the use of this vaccine would normally be considered as reaching a sufficient level of misinformation to be banned by Facebook. Although in this case, Facebook disagrees. In response to the reports, the social media site confirmed the ad by Earthley, who specializes in natural alternatives, does not violate its policies. Facebook reportedly further explained that its policies are designed to limit “vaccine misinformation” and not ads that express an “opposition to vaccines."
Facebook’s Thin Misinformation Line
Unlike many social media sites, Facebook has taken a very different stance to the way in which it deals with inaccurate information - with Facebook routinely arguing that free speech on its platform is more important than accurate speech. This has led to the company opting to allow political posts, even paid ones, irrespective of whether they are telling the truth or obviously lying.
Due to the seriousness of anti-vax ads, the company has taken a slightly harder line than it usually does, although this case seems to indicate that the line is thinner than many might expect. When it comes to paid ads on Facebook, and to a degree, Facebook-owned Instagram, Facebook appears to have policies in place that potentially make it easy to circumvent the ban. For example, Facebook seems to expect ads and content to be 100-percent decried before it removes them from the platform. An example of this approach was evident in its recently announced approach to deep fakes. While Facebook will now start to remove videos that are obviously fake, it won’t remove ones where someone’s words have been edited to suggest something else. While they too would be considered manipulative and even misinforming the general public by many, they, like this alleged anti-vax ad, fall on the acceptable side of Facebook’s thin misinformation line.
More: Facebook And Zuckerberg Accused Of Rigging Political Ads, Manipulating Voters
Source: Buzzfeed News
