This article is inspired by my final paper written for MIT’s 21A.520 Magic, Science, and Religion.
Social media platforms allow anti-vaccine activists to propagate vaccine misinformation, a trend that will prolong the coronavirus pandemic.
February 15, 2021 at 11 am EDT
Written by Sarah Chu
Meet Shane Ellison — author of “Health Myths Exposed,” loving husband to Scientologist Lea-Ann, and father to four unvaccinated children. More commonly known as “The People’s Chemist” by his readers, Shane is a rogue chemist turned natural healer, who writes about leaving his Big Pharma job to expose the inner workings of corruption and pseudo-science. Big Pharma, in his eyes, allegedly sells pseudo-drugs to the public as a method to maximize profits. Instead of vaccinating his children, Ellison believes in “natural cures” – his supplements more specifically – will protect you and your loved ones from the perils of Big Pharma.
Shane joins a wave of anti-vaccine activists, which include ex-President Trump, television host Jenny McCarthy, and tennis star Novak Djokovic, despite an enormous success of vaccination initiatives and an all-time low infection rate of vaccine-preventable diseases in recent years.
The anti-vaccination movement grew organically in the 19th century as vaccine skepticism swelled alongside modern science. A defining moment in the anti-vaccine movement occurred in 1998 when British gastroenterologist Andrew Wakefield linked the measles vaccine to a spike in autism cases at a research conference in London. Wakefield has since lost his medical license and had his research retracted from scientific journals; however, the damage was already done. Wakefield’s disastrous lies have given new life to the anti-vaccine movement, creating a political weapon for anti-vaccine conspiracy theorists.
Many critics of the anti-vaccine movement blame social media companies for allowing users to permeate misinformation on their platforms. A new report by the Center for Countering Digital Health noted that anti-vaccinators have increased their base by at least 7-8 million since 2019. The report noted that 31 million people follow anti-vaccine groups on Facebook, nearly 10 percent of the U.S. population. Facebook groups, Twitter, Youtube, and Instagram empowers anti-vaccinators – and perhaps well-intentioned but uninformed people – to communicate misinformation to potential allies at zero cost.
The epidemic of fake news reflects a broader issue of science denialism. Social media platforms allow public figures with large followings, like ex-President Trump, to deny the factual underpinnings of science. A new study published by the Journal of Experimental Social Psychology shows that the ex-president’s anti-vaccine tweets significantly increased the distrust of vaccines among his supporters. The continued spread of the coronavirus is a prime example of what happens when misinformation supersedes science-based evidence, especially from government-elected officials. These findings suggest that the coronavirus pandemic will last much longer than expected.
With just as much, if not more, factual evidence of the coronavirus vaccine on social media platforms, why does the anti-vaccine movement have such a strong following? Part of the reason lies in a person’s fundamental desire to belong within a group.
The anti-vaccine movement creates a sense of social belonging within a community. Becoming a member of the anti-vaccine movement forms a political and social identity, which validates in-group ties; that is, a person who psychologically identifies as a member of a group. In a time where social distancing is often confused with emotional distancing, Facebook groups provide a safe space for users to share vaccine misinformation with large audiences. For example, up until November 2020, “Stop Mandatory Vaccination” was one of the largest growing Facebook groups for anti-vaccinators, which helped fuel anti-vaccine misinformation. With over 125,000 members, users regularly saw posts that suggest that vaccines are poisonous to our well-being, with little to no opportunity for fact-checking. Those that express dissenting opinions were immediately removed from the page. This polarizing dynamic means that the content in anti-vaccine groups is largely uniform, which poses a risk of deeper science denialism.
Social networks have become lethal ammunition for anti-vaccine activists to spread misinformation to the public. The ethical implications for society are dire. As Big Tech giants Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and Instagram grapple with tough decisions on how to handle misinformation, the coronavirus pandemic will continue to take people’s lives and livelihoods. The truth is, there is no simple solution. It is difficult to change the culture of an institution that bolsters an epidemic of skepticism. Regulating social media and the Internet is uncharted territory for Big Tech leaders, but that doesn’t mean decision paralysis is necessary. The implications of misinformation have no grey areas. More people will die from the coronavirus pandemic if no action takes place, as anti-vaccine attitudes become increasingly radicalized. Big Tech leaders must work with government officials and scientists to create a strategic plan to handle the misinformation pandemic. In an era where the media landscape is ever-changing, it is crucial to verify the accuracy of the information that we consume.