Just over three weeks ago, we reported that Facebook had begun exploring ways to train its algorithms to stop recommending anti-vaccination groups to users.
Specifically, they said they were “exploring removing anti-vaccine information from software systems that recommend other things to read on its social network”.
This came after Congressman Adam B. Schiff sent a letter to Mark Zuckerberg expressing concern that the Facebook and Instagram algorithms were “surfacing and recommending messages that discourage parents from vaccinating their children”. Congressman Schiff felt compelled to send the letter following a measles outbreak in the Pacific Northwest.
Now, Facebook has announced that anti-vax misinformation will “appear less frequently” across people’s News Feeds, public and private pages and groups, search predictions, and in recommendation widgets across the site. Facebook also says that it will reject ads that include misinformation about vaccines.
In its announcement, Facebook said:
“We are exploring ways to share educational information about vaccines when people come across misinformation on this topic. Leading global health organizations, such as the World Health Organization and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, have publicly identified verifiable vaccine hoaxes. If these vaccine hoaxes appear on Facebook, we will take action against them.”
The company will use a combination of machine learning and manual human review to identify and reduce anti-vaccine misinformation.
The key takeaway here is that Facebook won’t remove the content, but simply make it harder to find. While search results and the ‘suggested groups’ feature have been cited as factors that have contributed to the increase in participation in anti-vax groups, leaving the content up on the site is fairly non-committal on Facebook’s part.
The New York Times notes that it’s similar to the way the site handles fake news. Their policy for fake news explains that they’re working to “identify and limit the spread of false news”, but that they “cannot become arbiters of truth ourselves — it’s not feasible given our scale, and it’s not our role.” Instead, they respond to fake news with demonetisation efforts and fact-checked rebuttals.
It’s been a big year for those fighting back against anti-vaxxers, and it’s only March.
Late last month, YouTube announced that it would be demonetising videos with anti-vax content in them.
And just earlier this week, a teen testified in front of Congress regarding his anti-vax mother, who he says got the majority of her information from Facebook groups.
Hopefully these are indicative of the beginnings of a more comprehensive response to the anti-vaccination movement, which has seen over 150,000 cases of preventable illnesses be diagnosed in the United States between 2007 and 2015 alone.