Category: Misinformation, Disinformation, and Conspiracy Theories
How the anti-vaccine movement is downplaying the danger of measles
NBC News As outbreaks of measles spread throughout the world, anti-vaccine activists aren’t just urging people not to get vaccinated — they’re taking a page from a well-worn playbook, falsely downplaying the dangers from the highly contagious respiratory disease. “The truth is, measles is not a super severe serious illness when you’re a child,” Mary Holland, […]
Feb 6, 2024
Supreme Court to weigh whether Covid misinformation is protected speech
STAT As social media sites were flooded with misleading posts about vaccine safety, mask effectiveness, Covid-19’s origins and federal shutdowns at the height of the pandemic, Biden officials urged platforms to pull down posts, delete accounts, and amplify correct information. Now the Supreme Court could decide whether the government violated Americans’ First Amendment rights with […]
Feb 6, 2024
Disinformation Is the Real Threat to Democracy and Public Health
Scientific American Disinformation is the coin of the modern realm. Vaccine denial, climate denial, election denial and war-crime denial have joined the grotesque denial of the Holocaust in the ranks of dishonesties now regularly foisted on the public. We can, however, do something about this crisis of the information age. In January the World Economic Forum […]
Jan 30, 2024
How fringe anti-science views infiltrated mainstream politics — and what it means in 2024
CBS News Rates of routine childhood vaccination hit a 10-year low in 2023. That, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, puts about 250,000 kindergartners at risk for measles, which often leads to hospitalization and can cause death. In recent weeks, an infant and two young children have been hospitalized amid an ongoing measles outbreak in Philadelphia that […]
Jan 24, 2024
Board Restricts Doctor’s License Over COVID Misinfo
MedPage Today The Medical Commission in Washington state has restricted the license of Idaho pathologist Ryan Cole, MD. In an order dated January 4 the commission concluded that Cole spread misinformation related to COVID-19 and failed to meet the standard of care for a number of patients during the pandemic. As a result, the commission restricted Cole from […]
Jan 16, 2024
Behind the Birth of an Anti-Vaccine Story
New York Times A 24-year-old’s sudden death devastated his family — and caught the attention of the movement of vaccine opponents. Before he received his second shot of a Covid-19 vaccine, there was little reason to think that George Watts Jr. was about to die. He was 24 and showed no obvious health problems. His […]
Jan 2, 2024
Scammers Are Tricking Anti-Vaxxers Into Buying Bogus Medical Documents
Wired On Telegram, scammers are impersonating doctors to sell fake Covid-19 vaccination certificates and other products, showing how criminals are taking advantage of conspiracy theories. Kristina Collins didn’t know her photo was being used on Telegram. Over the past few months, an Instagram picture of Collins, a Texas-based doctor and dermatologist, has been used by scammers on […]
Dec 19, 2023
‘Medical Freedom’ Activists Take Aim at New Target: Childhood Vaccine Mandates
NYT Mississippi has long had high childhood immunization rates, but a federal judge has ordered the state to allow parents to opt out on religious grounds. For more than 40 years, Mississippi had one of the strictest school vaccination requirements in the nation, and its high childhood immunization rates have been a source of pride. […]
Dec 5, 2023
NPR Each morning, Stephanie Nichols gathers her second graders around a table to eat breakfast and start their day. As the kids unpack their knapsacks and settle into the classroom, Nichols likes to listen more than she speaks. Breakfast table conversation can be about anything – from video games to the New England Patriots. But […]
Nov 8, 2023
Matthew Perry Deserved Better Than #DiedSuddenly
Wired IT DIDN’T TAKE long for news of actor Matthew Perry’s death to go public. TMZ broke the story so early that paparazzi had already camped out to photograph the Friends star’s grieving parents as they arrived on the scene. The vulturous routines of the celebrity death news complex are, at this point, predictable. Tabloids compete for 911 […]
Oct 31, 2023