In order to stop the spread of anti-vaccination content on its network, Pinterest decided to block it. But in doing so, the company also banned serious posts on the subject.
While Europe is currently in the throes of a measles epidemic, the anti-vaccine movement is gaining momentum in the West. So much so that the WHO has denounced this trend as one of the ten most dangerous health threats of the year. And of course, it is above all on the Internet that this propaganda, made up of rumors crazier than the last, spreads. This is why the image sharing network pinterest decided to block content indicating that vaccines were dangerous. Problem: instead of succeeding in filtering effectively, the site blocked all posts evoking vaccination, from near or far.
Fine-tune a responsible image with the general public
Why make such a decision now? The network, which has more than 250 million monthly active users, is preparing to go public in April. Also, it is now a matter of fine-tuning a responsible image with the general public in order to attract potential shareholders. “For now, blocking vaccine results is a temporary solution to prevent people from coming across unsubstantiated information,” said company spokesperson Jamie Favazza, explaining that Pinterest was currently working with experts in order to develop a longer-term approach.
Yes this kind of content also spreads on other networks, Pinterest is the only one so far to have chosen such a radical solution. Last week, Democratic Congressman Adam B. Schiff wrote a letter to Mark Zuckerbeg asking him to take action so that anti-vaccine information circulating on his social network is no longer recommended for Facebook users. After what the company has announced that it wants to remove this content in search results. It would also be about highlighting verified information.
YouTube bans anti-vaccine content from displaying ads
In the same logic, Adam B. Schiff also wrote to Sundar Pichai, the executive director of Google which owns Youtube. The video-sharing site then announced that it had started filtering content more seriously in late 2017 for people looking for vaccine videos and that the search algorithm was being refined over time.
“We have a strict policy that guides which videos we allow to display ads and videos that show anti-vaccine content are not part of it,” also explained a spokesperson for YouTube on Friday February 21. “We vigorously enforce this policy and if we discover any video that circumvents it, we will remove the advertisement immediately.”
Despite scientific evidence that vaccines are effective and safe, many people still refuse them, whether for cost, moral or religious reasons, or because they think it might make them autistic. Measles has been able to reappear in Europe and kill 72 people since 2017, including children.