{"id":255348,"date":"2021-05-21T09:10:38","date_gmt":"2021-05-21T06:10:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/facebook-said-it-would-stop-recommending-anti-vaccine-groups-it-didnt\/"},"modified":"2021-05-21T09:10:38","modified_gmt":"2021-05-21T06:10:38","slug":"facebook-said-it-would-stop-recommending-anti-vaccine-groups-it-didnt","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/facebook-said-it-would-stop-recommending-anti-vaccine-groups-it-didnt\/","title":{"rendered":"#Facebook said it would stop recommending anti-vaccine groups. It didn\u2019t."},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_89 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-custom ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<label for=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6af24a04852b6\" class=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-label\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/label><input type=\"checkbox\"  id=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6af24a04852b6\" checked aria-label=\"Toggle\" \/><nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/facebook-said-it-would-stop-recommending-anti-vaccine-groups-it-didnt\/#Shifting_Policies\" >Shifting Policies<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/facebook-said-it-would-stop-recommending-anti-vaccine-groups-it-didnt\/#The_Biggest_Groups\" >The Biggest Groups<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<p>&#8220;<strong>#<a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/social-mediaa\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"1\" title=\"Social Media\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Facebook<\/a> said it would stop recommending anti-vaccine groups. It didn\u2019t.<\/strong>&#8221;<\/p>\n<div>Facebook broadcast a sweeping pledge in a Feb.\u00a08 blog post: It would <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/about.fb.com\/news\/2020\/04\/covid-19-misinfo-update\/#removing-more-false-claims\">remove false claims about vaccines<\/a> from its platform. The declaration followed a <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/watch-movies-tv-seriess\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"8\" title=\"Watch Movies &amp; TV Series\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">series<\/a> of promises over the preceding months to curb bogus health information on its site, particularly misinformation surrounding the pandemic. This included a <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/about.fb.com\/news\/2020\/09\/keeping-facebook-groups-safe\/\">commitment in September<\/a> to stop recommending \u201chealth groups\u201d in order to halt the practice of people turning to fellow Facebook users instead of doctors for medical advice.<\/p>\n<p>But data from <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/themarkup.org\/citizen-browser\/2021\/01\/05\/how-we-built-a-facebook-inspector\">The Markup\u2019s Citizen Browser project<\/a> shows that not only is COVID-19 misinformation still easy to find on Facebook, the company has also continued to recommend health groups to its users, including blatantly anti-vaccine groups and pages explicitly founded to propagate lies about the pandemic.<\/p>\n<p>Citizen Browser consists of a nationwide panel of Facebook users who automatically share their <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/news\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"2\" title=\"News\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">news<\/a> feed data with The Markup, including which groups the platform recommends they join.<\/p>\n<p>Even in this relatively small subset of 3,156 Facebook users, we found hundreds of health groups recommended to our panelists, including 31\u00a0groups or pages that contained anti-vaccine or anti-mask propaganda and misinformation about the pandemic. The recommendations we tracked occurred between Nov. 15 and May\u00a01, including at least seven after Facebook\u2019s latest announced crackdown in February.<\/p>\n<p>For \u201chealth\u201d groups, we searched for any group recommended to our panelists with a name that included the word \u201chealth\u201d or any one of 12\u00a0health- and illness-related terms, and eliminated groups containing any of a list of keywords suggesting the groups were not related to bodily human health (e.g., \u201cdog,\u201d \u201ccat,\u201d \u201crelationship\u201d). To find pandemic-related information, we reviewed those health groups, along with additional searches for groups and pages with terms like \u201chealth freedom\u201d and \u201cmedical freedom\u201d and then examined the posts and de<a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/download-scripts-themes-apps\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"9\" title=\"Download Scripts &amp; Themes &amp; Apps\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">script<\/a>ions to confirm the nature of their content. In some cases, the group\u2019s titles themselves overtly pointed to misinformation, despite Facebook\u2019s stated policies. See more on our data <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/github.com\/the-markup\/citizen-browser-antivaxx-groups\">here<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>On March 26, for instance, Facebook suggested that one of our panelists join a group called\u00a0\u201cCovid-19 is a HOAX!\u201d The public group, with 81 members, describes itself as \u201ca group of woke individuals who agree with the FACT Covid-19 is a fucking HOAX!\u201d The group\u2019s discussion feed is mostly filled with anti-vaccine video testimonials from <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.adl.org\/blog\/bitchute-a-hotbed-of-hate\">the far-right site BitChute<\/a>. Popular hashtags within the group include #ExposeCNN, #justsayno, and #wewillsupportyou.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"post-image post-mediaBleed aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1351783 js-lazy\" alt=\"Facebook suggested that one our panelists join a group that describes itself as \u201ca group of woke individuals who agree with FACT Covid-19 is a fucking HOAX!\u201d\" width=\"720\" height=\"416\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 720px) 100vw, 720px\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn0.tnwcdn.com\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/1\/files\/2021\/05\/hoax-group-720x416.jpg\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn0.tnwcdn.com\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/1\/files\/2021\/05\/hoax-group-720x416.jpg 720w, https:\/\/cdn0.tnwcdn.com\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/1\/files\/2021\/05\/hoax-group-720x416-280x162.jpg 280w, https:\/\/cdn0.tnwcdn.com\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/1\/files\/2021\/05\/hoax-group-720x416-467x270.jpg 467w, https:\/\/cdn0.tnwcdn.com\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/1\/files\/2021\/05\/hoax-group-720x416-234x135.jpg 234w\"\/><figcaption>Credit: <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/themarkup.org\/citizen-browser\/2021\/05\/20\/facebook-said-it-would-stop-recommending-anti-vaccine-groups-it-didnt\">The Markup<\/a><\/figcaption><figcaption><a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/thenextweb.com\/news\/#\" data-url=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?url=https%3A%2F%2Feditorial.thenextweb.com%2Ffacebook%2F2021%2F05%2F21%2Ffacebook-said-it-would-stop-recommending-anti-vaccine-groups-it-didnt-syndication%2F&amp;via=thenextweb&amp;related=thenextweb&amp;text=Check out this picture on: Facebook suggested that one our panelists join a group that describes itself as \u201ca group of woke individuals who agree with FACT Covid-19 is a fucking HOAX!\u201d\" data-title=\"Share Facebook suggested that one our panelists join a group that describes itself as \u201ca group of woke individuals who agree with FACT Covid-19 is a fucking HOAX!\u201d on Twitter\" data-width=\"685\" data-height=\"500\" class=\"post-image-share popitup\" title=\"Share Facebook suggested that one our panelists join a group that describes itself as \u201ca group of woke individuals who agree with FACT Covid-19 is a fucking HOAX!\u201d on Twitter\"><i class=\"icon icon--inline icon--twitter--dark\"\/><\/a>Facebook suggested that one our panelists join a group that describes itself as \u201ca group of woke individuals who agree with FACT Covid-19 is a fucking HOAX!\u201d<\/figcaption><noscript><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1351783\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn0.tnwcdn.com\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/1\/files\/2021\/05\/hoax-group-720x416.jpg\" alt=\"Facebook suggested that one our panelists join a group that describes itself as \u201ca group of woke individuals who agree with FACT Covid-19 is a fucking HOAX!\u201d\" width=\"720\" height=\"416\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn0.tnwcdn.com\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/1\/files\/2021\/05\/hoax-group-720x416.jpg 720w, https:\/\/cdn0.tnwcdn.com\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/1\/files\/2021\/05\/hoax-group-720x416-280x162.jpg 280w, https:\/\/cdn0.tnwcdn.com\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/1\/files\/2021\/05\/hoax-group-720x416-467x270.jpg 467w, https:\/\/cdn0.tnwcdn.com\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/1\/files\/2021\/05\/hoax-group-720x416-234x135.jpg 234w\"\/><\/noscript><\/figure>\n<p>Even more recently, on April 27, another Citizen Browser panelist received a suggestion to follow the \u201cWorldwide Health Freedom\u201d page. One of the latest posts on this page links to a blog about a gym that offers free memberships to anyone refusing to be vaccinated.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe have a policy against recommending health-related groups on our platforms,\u201d Kevin McAlister, a Facebook spokesperson, said in an email. \u201cAnd while some of these groups were already removed for violating our policies or not being recommended, we are investigating why others were recommended in the first place.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Other groups recommended to Citizen Browser panelists over the past six months included \u201cPennsylvania for Medical Freedom\u201d and \u201cVACCINES: LEARN THE RISKS.\u201d Facebook also recommended \u201cHealth Freedom Group,\u201d which had more than 73,000 members and was run by <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/252f2edd-1c8b-49f5-9bb2-cb57bb47e4ba.filesusr.com\/ugd\/f4d9b9_b7cedc0553604720b7137f8663366ee5.pdf\">prominent anti-vaccine advocate Erin Elizabeth.<\/a> Facebook shuttered the group last week after it had reached this size in just under a year of operation. In all, a total of 16 groups and pages filled with vaccine misinformation were recommended to our panelists.<\/p>\n<p>We also found 15 recommendations for groups or pages that explicitly encouraged members to flout mask-wearing safety guidelines, including \u201cOhio against masks!,\u201d \u201cChristians Against Facemasks,\u201d and \u201cDo not support PA businesses that require masks\u201d\u2014the latter of which was recommended to four panelists.<\/p>\n<p>Some of the anti-vaccination pages have been dormant for months or years\u2014but Facebook nevertheless pushed them to our panelists in their group recommendations. \u201cSouthern California Proud Parents of Unvaccinated Children,\u201d for example, hasn\u2019t posted since April 2015, and the last post for \u201cAnn Arbor for Medical Freedom\u201d was in July 2020. \u201cWorldwide Health Freedom\u201d posted once in March, but before that its most recent post was in October.<\/p>\n<p>These pages have from around 200 to 500 followers and have posts like \u201cNo shots, no school? Not true\u201d and \u201cfor every human illness there exists a plant, which is the cure.\u201d In all of the pages suggested to our panelists, Facebook shows users a recommendation box that offers \u201cRelated Pages\u201d to explore. Those related pages are also filled with vaccine misinformation and have names like \u201cVaccine Doubt,\u201d \u201cVaccine Injury Lawyers,\u201d and \u201cVaxfreekids.\u201d When users click on those pages, the recommendation rabbit hole continues.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIn terms of the recommendations, there\u2019s something in Facebook\u2019s policy that\u2019s broken,\u201d said Fadi Quran, a campaign director who studies <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/avaazimages.avaaz.org\/facebook_threat_health.pdf\">social media misinformation<\/a> for Avaaz, a nonprofit advocacy group. \u201cFacebook\u2019s algorithm learns to recommend content to people that is in many cases inflammatory and misinformation, even when the platform says it wants to do the opposite.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Shifting_Policies\"><\/span><strong>Shifting Policies<\/strong><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Over the past couple of years, Facebook has struggled over what to do with anti-vaccine content on its platform, often changing its approach on how to handle it. During the pandemic, the company\u2019s policy shifts have become even more frequent.<\/p>\n<p>Originally, Facebook said it would <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/about.fb.com\/news\/2019\/03\/combatting-vaccine-misinformation\/\">stop recommending groups that contained vaccine misinformation<\/a>, in March 2019. Then, last September, the company said it would <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/about.fb.com\/news\/2020\/09\/keeping-facebook-groups-safe\/\">stop recommending health groups<\/a> to users as a way to cut down on misinformation. In October, it announced it would\u00a0<a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/about.fb.com\/news\/2020\/10\/supporting-public-health-experts-vaccine-efforts\/\">ban vaccine misinformation in ads<\/a>. And in November it said it would <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcnews.com\/tech\/tech-news\/covid-19-vaccines-face-varied-powerful-misinformation-movement-online-n1249378\">take down some of the biggest accounts<\/a> peddling such content. In February came the announcement of the site-wide purge.<\/p>\n<p>With that pledge, the company said it worked with public health agencies to create a <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/help\/230764881494641\/\">list of dozens of false claims<\/a> surrounding the coronavirus, including the idea that COVID-19 is man-made and that vaccines aren\u2019t effective at protecting against the virus. The company said it would begin enforcing the policy immediately. In March, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/fortune.com\/2021\/03\/24\/facebook-alphabet-twitter-ceos-congressional-hearing-testimony-misinformation-extrimism-online-big-tech-congress\/\">submitted written <\/a>testimony <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/fortune.com\/2021\/03\/24\/facebook-alphabet-twitter-ceos-congressional-hearing-testimony-misinformation-extrimism-online-big-tech-congress\/\">to Congress<\/a> saying, \u201c[W]e have made fighting misinformation and providing people with authoritative information a priority for the company.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Facebook spokesperson McAlister said the company has removed more than \u201c18 million pieces of content\u201d globally for violating its rules on vaccine misinformation. It also applied \u201cfalse\u201d warning labels to more than \u201c167 million pieces of COVID-19 content\u201d that he said were rated by independent fact-checkers. \u201cWe\u2019re continuing to work with health experts to keep pace with the evolving nature of the pandemic and update our policies as new facts and trends emerge,\u201d McAlister added.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cEvery time Facebook puts out a policy, it\u2019s exhausting,\u201d said Madelyn Webb, a senior researcher who focuses on social media and misinformation at Media Matters. \u201cYou can\u2019t just take down a piece of content and expect it to be gone; you have to look at the networks. It\u2019s silly to claim that these actions are addressing misinformation in any way.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>As recently as late April, Webb and her colleagues<a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.mediamatters.org\/facebook\/anti-vaccine-groups-thrive-facebook-dont-be-fooled-platforms-latest-takedown\"> found 117 active groups<\/a> on Facebook that they identified as anti-vaccine. Combined, those groups had roughly 275,000 members. Many of the groups explicitly called themselves \u201canti-vaxx\u201d or \u201canti-vaccine,\u201d according to Webb.<\/p>\n<p>With health groups overall, Facebook\u2019s vow to stop recommendations has been particularly confusing.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFacebook Groups, including health groups, can be a positive space for giving and receiving support during difficult life circumstances,\u201d Tom Alison, Facebook\u2019s vice president of engineering, wrote in the September blog post. But \u201cto prioritize connecting people with accurate health information, we are starting to no longer show health groups in recommendations.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Still, some Facebook users, including reporters for The Markup, see a \u201chealth\u201d category when looking to find new groups to join through the site\u2019s \u201cDiscover\u201d tab. And a total of 1,159 Citizen Browser panelists\u2014well over a third of the panel\u2014received recommendations for groups that contained one of our health keywords, such as \u201chealth,\u201d \u201cCOVID,\u201d or \u201cvaccine.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>A brief scan of these recommended groups shows that many appear to be dedicated to topics like healthy living or fitness routines. Some seem explicitly contrary to the sorts of health discussion that Alison referred to in his post, like \u201cLiver and Gallbladder Flush for Optimal Health,\u201d \u201cOpen Heart Surgery Support Group,\u201d and \u201cPanniculectomy Recovery.\u201d The \u201cWhipple Surgery Survivor Group\u201d says it\u2019s for people familiar with the surgery typically done to treat pancreatic cancer. The \u201cAbout\u201d section of the page states that people should contact their doctors for medical advice and shouldn\u2019t change their medical routines without first consulting their personal physicians.<\/p>\n<p>Other groups recommended to our panelists tout remedies that could run counter to medical professionals\u2019 opinions. For example, several promote alternative medicine, such as \u201cPsychedelics, Sacred Medicines, Purpose &amp; Business\u201d and \u201cHerbal Recovery From Opiates.\u201d Others encourage plastic surgery or 1,200-calorie-and-less diets. One group, \u201cMeat Health,\u201d provides information and support around a \u201ccarnivore\u201d diet.<\/p>\n<p>When asked why Facebook is still recommending health groups, despite its stated policy, McAlister said, \u201cWe use machine learning to remove groups that post a significant amount of health or medical advice from our recommendation surfaces. Groups with a focus on positive health topics including fitness, wellness or personal development are still permitted.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"The_Biggest_Groups\"><\/span><strong>The Biggest Groups<\/strong><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Experts say groups that look like healthy lifestyle forums can <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/arxiv.org\/pdf\/2102.02382.pdf\">sometimes harbor anti-vaccine motives<\/a>, and for anti-vaccine activists that health focus can have a two-fold effect. First, it brings in members who might not otherwise join anti-vaccination groups; and second, it makes it easier for anti-vaccination groups to camouflage themselves within the health category and hide from Facebook\u2019s moderators.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat Facebook does is kind of a surface clean,\u201d said Naomi Smith, a sociologist at Federation University Australia who <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.tandfonline.com\/doi\/abs\/10.1080\/1369118X.2017.1418406?journalCode=rics20\">studies vaccine misinformation<\/a> on social media. \u201cUsers are smart. They can figure out how to get around these things. Even if you have a public page, if you make it about natural health, then they\u2019ll probably leave you alone.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>That tactic seemed to work for two of the biggest anti-vaccine groups recommended to users in the Citizen Browser panel, \u201cHealth Freedom Group\u201d and \u201cHolistic Lives,\u201d which had more than 73,000 members and more than 65,000 members, respectively.<\/p>\n<p>Up until last Thursday, the two groups were active, posting around a dozen times per day. Both groups listed Erin Elizabeth as an admin. Elizabeth, a <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.healthnutnews.com\/about\/\">self-described<\/a> \u201chealth nut,\u201d posted about things like mental health being related to a \u201cleaky gut\u201d and how raw food is the solution to good health. Interspersed were conspiracies about Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates nefariously pushing vaccines, alleged deaths from COVID-19 vaccines, and how Elizabeth was constantly under threat of being censored by Facebook.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"post-image post-mediaBleed aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1351784 js-lazy\" alt=\"Erin Elizabeth often posted about Bill Gates in her \u201cHolistic Lives\u201d group.\" width=\"720\" height=\"416\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 720px) 100vw, 720px\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn0.tnwcdn.com\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/1\/files\/2021\/05\/holistic-group-720x416.jpg\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn0.tnwcdn.com\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/1\/files\/2021\/05\/holistic-group-720x416.jpg 720w, https:\/\/cdn0.tnwcdn.com\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/1\/files\/2021\/05\/holistic-group-720x416-280x162.jpg 280w, https:\/\/cdn0.tnwcdn.com\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/1\/files\/2021\/05\/holistic-group-720x416-467x270.jpg 467w, https:\/\/cdn0.tnwcdn.com\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/1\/files\/2021\/05\/holistic-group-720x416-234x135.jpg 234w\"\/><figcaption>Credit: <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/themarkup.org\/citizen-browser\/2021\/05\/20\/facebook-said-it-would-stop-recommending-anti-vaccine-groups-it-didnt\">The Markup<\/a><\/figcaption><figcaption><a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/thenextweb.com\/news\/#\" data-url=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?url=https%3A%2F%2Feditorial.thenextweb.com%2Ffacebook%2F2021%2F05%2F21%2Ffacebook-said-it-would-stop-recommending-anti-vaccine-groups-it-didnt-syndication%2F&amp;via=thenextweb&amp;related=thenextweb&amp;text=Check out this picture on: Erin Elizabeth often posted about Bill Gates in her \u201cHolistic Lives\u201d group.\" data-title=\"Share Erin Elizabeth often posted about Bill Gates in her \u201cHolistic Lives\u201d group. on Twitter\" data-width=\"685\" data-height=\"500\" class=\"post-image-share popitup\" title=\"Share Erin Elizabeth often posted about Bill Gates in her \u201cHolistic Lives\u201d group. on Twitter\"><i class=\"icon icon--inline icon--twitter--dark\"\/><\/a>Erin Elizabeth often posted about Bill Gates in her \u201cHolistic Lives\u201d group.<\/figcaption><noscript><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1351784\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn0.tnwcdn.com\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/1\/files\/2021\/05\/holistic-group-720x416.jpg\" alt=\"Erin Elizabeth often posted about Bill Gates in her \u201cHolistic Lives\u201d group.\" width=\"720\" height=\"416\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn0.tnwcdn.com\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/1\/files\/2021\/05\/holistic-group-720x416.jpg 720w, https:\/\/cdn0.tnwcdn.com\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/1\/files\/2021\/05\/holistic-group-720x416-280x162.jpg 280w, https:\/\/cdn0.tnwcdn.com\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/1\/files\/2021\/05\/holistic-group-720x416-467x270.jpg 467w, https:\/\/cdn0.tnwcdn.com\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/1\/files\/2021\/05\/holistic-group-720x416-234x135.jpg 234w\"\/><\/noscript><\/figure>\n<p>On Thursday, Facebook deleted all of Elizabeth\u2019s accounts, including her personal account. It also stopped allowing anyone to post links from her business website.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThey\u2019ve just done another misinfo purge today, in what has to be one of the slowest course corrections ever,\u201d Smith wrote in an email to The Markup last Thursday.<\/p>\n<p>Facebook\u2019s McAlister told The Markup that Elizabeth\u2019s pages have been \u201cpermanently removed\u201d because they violated company policies. He didn\u2019t specify which policies the pages violated.<\/p>\n<p>Elizabeth didn\u2019t respond to a request for comment.<\/p>\n<p>Like in other anti-vaccination groups on Facebook, many of which remain active, Elizabeth and other group administrators used simple cloaked language to avoid triggering Facebook\u2019s algorithm. \u201cRona\u201d was often used for the coronavirus, and \u201cV\u201d was code for vaccine.<\/p>\n<p>In a May\u00a04 post, Elizabeth uploaded a screenshot of a New York Times article about vaccinating adolescents over the age of 12. In the screenshot she scrubbed the words \u201cvaccine\u201d and \u201cvaccination.\u201d She added a message to the post that said, \u201cThey\u2019re coming for the kids\u2026 If you wanna discuss this join me over it [sic] censorship proof Telegram.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Similarly to other anti-vaccine proponents, Elizabeth often used her Facebook groups to build her social media channels on Telegram, Gab, and TikTok, and to amass new subscribers for her email newsletter. She also <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.theatlantic.com\/health\/archive\/2019\/02\/anti-vaxx-facebook-social-media\/583681\/\">encouraged members to visit her website<\/a>, where they could buy products like personalized vials of \u201cnano hemp skin serum\u201d for $89.99.<\/p>\n<p>Since disappearing from Facebook, Elizabeth has continued to be active on Telegram, which has become <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.vox.com\/recode\/22238755\/telegram-messaging-social-media-extremists\">popular with extremists of all kinds<\/a> due to its lax content moderation.<\/p>\n<p>And despite removing Elizabeth\u2019s groups, Facebook has resisted taking down the accounts of other notable anti-vaccine activists.<\/p>\n<p>In March, the Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH) published a report that <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/252f2edd-1c8b-49f5-9bb2-cb57bb47e4ba.filesusr.com\/ugd\/f4d9b9_b7cedc0553604720b7137f8663366ee5.pdf\">pinpointed 12 leaders in the anti-vaccine movement<\/a> who produce high volumes of vaccine misinformation and have seen rapid growth in their social media accounts over the last few months. Among those leaders were <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.vanityfair.com\/news\/2021\/05\/how-robert-f-kennedy-jr-became-anti-vaxxer-icon-nightmare\">well-known vaccine opponent<\/a> Robert F. Kennedy Jr., <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.theringer.com\/2017\/1\/5\/16041098\/dr-joseph-mercola-natural-health-website-bc1ac5e6ebc\">alternative health e-commerce guru<\/a> Joseph Mercola, and Elizabeth, who happens to be Mercola\u2019s longtime girlfriend and <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/unhealthytruth\/status\/1291771381152178182?lang=en\">often refers to him<\/a> as \u201cmy better half.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Facebook\u2019s McAlister said several accounts associated with those mentioned in the report have been removed or face other restrictions for violating company policies, but he didn\u2019t specify which accounts.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cCCDH is a political group of censorship extremists funded by dark money,\u201d Mercola wrote in an email to The Markup, adding that the campaign was allegedly led by pharmaceutical public relations firms. \u201cTheir reason for their campaign to deplatform me is because I suggest that COVID was lab engineered in China and was anticipated by global elites. The evidence supporting the Wuhan lab leak is overwhelming.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>CCDH did not respond to a request for comment.<\/p>\n<p>When asked for comment on the CCDH report, Kennedy said in a phone call with The Markup, \u201cThey accuse me of spreading vaccine misinformation but have yet to point to a single item where there is an erroneous factual assertion.\u201d Citing First Amendment protections, he added that \u201cAmericans should be able to criticize our government, and they should be able to criticize pharmaceutical products.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>On the heels of the report, <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/technology\/2021\/03\/24\/facebook-twitter-attorney-generals\/\">a coalition of 12 state attorneys general<\/a> called on Facebook to \u201ctake immediate steps\u201d to enforce its policies around vaccine misinformation. Facebook also <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.klobuchar.senate.gov\/public\/_cache\/files\/8\/7\/87e50146-a4cc-4ab1-9604-3190401bbec5\/859B41CE812B8AC97F55D24EFEA0F834.4.16.21-letter-to-tech-ceos--vaccine-misinfo-final-.pdf\">got a letter<\/a> from Sens. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) and Ben Ray Luj\u00e1n (D-NM) saying it and other social media companies have \u201cfailed to adequately protect Americans.\u201d Sen. Mark Warner (D-VA) wrote Facebook too, <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.warner.senate.gov\/public\/_cache\/files\/6\/0\/60a0d01e-1baa-4188-91d1-bbc1936aa913\/95025323FD86258CBF3C534F17C76DA5.3.25.21-instagram-algorithm-final-v2.docx.pdf\">detailing his concerns about anti-vaccination groups<\/a> on its site.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFacebook has previously committed to reducing the spread of misinformation on its platforms,\u201d Warner wrote. \u201cHowever, despite these promises, Facebook\u2019s enforcement of its own policies is consistently and demonstrably insufficient.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Even with the government backlash and Mercola and Kennedy being public figures in the anti-vaccine world, <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/f4d9b9d3-3d32-4f3a-afa6-49f8bf05279a.usrfiles.com\/ugd\/f4d9b9_7a52dea3ce19442a92a0aa62ece7c045.pdf\">Facebook still hasn\u2019t barred their accounts<\/a>\u2014although it did shutter Kennedy\u2019s Instagram account in February. And in the case of Elizabeth, even though Facebook pulled her \u201cHealth Freedom Group\u201d and \u201cHolistic Lives\u201d group, according to our Citizen Browser project it still actively recommended them to people as recently as Dec.\u00a019 and Jan.\u00a015, respectively.<\/p>\n<p><em>This article by\u00a0Corin Faife and Dara Kerr was <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/themarkup.org\/citizen-browser\/2021\/05\/20\/facebook-said-it-would-stop-recommending-anti-vaccine-groups-it-didnt\">originally published on The Markup<\/a> and was republished under the <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nc-nd\/4.0\/\">Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives<\/a><a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"> license.<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><script async src=\"\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<blockquote><p><strong><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\">If you liked the article, do not forget to share it with your friends. Follow us on\u00a0<span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><a style=\"color: #ff0000;\" href=\"https:\/\/news.google.com\/publications\/CAAqBwgKMLG0nwswvr63Aw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">Google News<\/a><\/span>\u00a0too, click on the star and choose us from your favorites.<\/span><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">For forums sites go to <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/forum.buradabiliyorum.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Forum.BuradaBiliyorum.Com<\/a><\/span><\/strong>\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>If you want to read more like this article, you can visit our <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/technology\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Technology category.<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"color: black;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/thenextweb.com\/news\/facebook-said-it-would-stop-recommending-anti-vaccine-groups-it-didnt-syndication\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Source<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;#Facebook said it would stop recommending anti-vaccine groups. It didn\u2019t.&#8221; Facebook broadcast a sweeping pledge in a Feb.\u00a08 blog post: It would remove false claims about vaccines from its platform. The declaration followed a series of promises over the preceding months to curb bogus health information on its site, particularly misinformation surrounding the pandemic. This&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":255349,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/img-cdn.tnwcdn.com\/image\/tnw?filter_last=1&fit=1280,640&url=https:\/\/cdn0.tnwcdn.com\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/1\/files\/2021\/05\/Facebook-anti-vaxx-hed-The-Markup.jpg&signature=273dd36ba8f597b99be103df7372ecf1","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-255348","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-technology"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/255348","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=255348"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/255348\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/255349"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=255348"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=255348"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=255348"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}