Facebook said it will reduce the distribution of misleading medical advice about vaccines and provide people with authoritative information on the topic, as the platform works to stop the spread of anti-vaccine misinformation.
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, the platform has vowed to take action against them.
"If a group or Page admin posts this vaccine misinformation, we will exclude the entire group or Page from recommendations, reduce these groups and Pages' distribution in News Feed and Search, and reject ads with this misinformation," said Monika Bickert, VP of global policy management for Facebook, in a recent statement.
Facebook said they are also exploring ways to give people more accurate information from expert organizations about vaccines at the top of results for related searches, on Pages discussing the topic, and on invitations to join groups about the topic.
