According to the World Health Organization (WHO), “vaccine hesitancy,” which is “the reluctance or refusal to vaccinate despite the availability of vaccines” is among the top ten threats to global health in 2019. While there are many complex reasons why people may choose not to vaccinate their children, social media has received a great deal of scrutiny for its role in empowering and financing the movement opposing vaccines. Platforms have taken a wide range of actions in response.
Pinterest, for example, demonstrated an aggressive tactic, banishing results that are associated with certain searches related to vaccines, “regardless of whether those results might have been reputable.“In 2017, the platform altered its “community guidelines” after a 2016 study revealed that 75 percent of vaccine-related posts were negative. The guidelines aim to prevent misinformation and advice that has “immediate and detrimental effects on a pinner’s health and public safety,” and explicitly state that “[t]his includes . . . . anti-vaccination advice.” Now, if a user attempts to search “vaccination,” they’ll see a result stating “Pins about this topic often violate our community guidelines, so we’re currently unable to show search results.” And while users can still pin images related to vaccines, their posts won’t be visible in searches.