AG Tong Calls on Facebook and Twitter to Stop Spread of Anti Vaxxer Coronavirus Disinformation

March 24, 2021 antivax, covid19

Press Releases

03/24/2021

Attorney General Tong Calls on Facebook, Twitter to Stop Spread of Anti-Vaxxer Coronavirus Disinformation

(Hartford, CT) – Attorney General William Tong today led a coalition of eleven other attorneys general calling on Facebook and Twitter to take stronger measures to stop the spread of anti-vaxxer coronavirus disinformation on their social media platforms. In letters to Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey, the attorneys general urge both leaders to immediately and fully enforce company guidelines against vaccine misinformation to prevent needless infection and death and to hasten our road to recovery.

The availability of safe and effective vaccines means the end of this pandemic is in sight. But our ability to do so quickly and limit further loss of life depends on broad public acceptance of these vaccines. False information regarding the safety of coronavirus vaccines by a small number of individuals lacking medical expertise and often motivated by their own financial interests has reached over 59 million followers on Facebook, YouTube, Instagram and Twitter, threatening to undermine vaccine acceptance and harm the nation’s recovery. Anti-vaxxers have used these platforms to disproportionately target people of color and Black Americans specifically—communities who have already suffered the worst health impacts of the virus and whose vaccination rates are already lagging.

“COVID vaccines only work if people actually get them. Pseudoscience coronavirus conspiracy theories peddled by a small number of uninformed anti-vaxxers have reached tens of millions of social media followers. These posts are in flagrant violation of Facebook and Twitter policies. Facebook and Twitter must fully and immediately enforce their own policies, or risk prolonging this pandemic,” said Attorney General Tong.

The letter cites specific examples where Facebook and Twitter have failed to enforce their existing guidelines, including:

• Twitter and Facebook have yet to remove from all their platforms the accounts of prominent anti-vaxxers who have repeatedly violated the companies’ terms of service. Digital media research groups estimate that as of March 10, 12 anti-vaxxers’ personal accounts and their associated organizations, groups and websites are responsible for 65% of public anti-vaccine content on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.

• Facebook has failed to consistently apply misinformation labels and popups on Facebook pages and groups that discuss vaccines or COVID-19. For example, the company neglected to apply warning labels on dozens of Facebook groups that anti-vaxxer Larry Cook created for his followers. At the same time, the company has mistakenly flagged pro-vaccine pages and content in ways that have undermined pro-vaccine public education efforts.

• Facebook has allowed anti-vaxxers to skirt its policy of removing misinformation that health experts have debunked, by failing to prevent them from using video and streaming tools like Facebook Live and sites like Bitchute, Rumble, and Brighteon to evade detection.

The letter comes as Zuckerberg, Dorsey and Google CEO Sundar Pichai are set to testify Thursday at a joint hearing of the Communications and Technology Subcommittee and the Consumer Protection and Commerce Subcommittee of the U.S. House of Representatives regarding social media’s role in promoting extremism and misinformation.

The letter was led by Connecticut Attorney General William Tong and joined by the attorneys general of Delaware, Iowa, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, North Carolina, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and Virginia.

Twitter: @AGWilliamTong

Facebook: CT Attorney General