RBG Returns to Work to Fight the Wall in Hand-to-Hand Combat
https://www.elle.com/culture/career-politics/a26358235/ruth-bader-ginsburg-returns-to-work/
Facebook, Google, CDC under pressure to stop anti-vax garbage from spreading
With five measles outbreaks ongoing in the US, lawmakers are questioning both health officials and tech giants on their efforts to combat the noxious anti-vaccine misinformation fueling the spread of disease.
Last week, Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.), chairman of the Senate health committee, along with ranking member Patty Murray (D-Wash.) sent a letter to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Health and Human Services. The lawmakers asked what health officials were doing to fight misinformation and help states dealing with outbreaks. “Many factors contribute to vaccine hesitancy, all of which demand attention from CDC and [HHS’ National Vaccine Program Office],” the lawmakers wrote. On Thursday, February 14, the committee announced that it will hold a hearing on the subject on March 5.
Also Thursday, Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) sent letters to Google CEO Sundar Pichai and Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg. In them, Schiff expressed concern over the outbreaks as well as the tech companies’ role in enabling the dissemination of medically inaccurate information.
If “concerned” parents see phony vaccine information in their Facebook newsfeeds or YouTube recommendations, “it could cause them to disregard the advice of their children’s physicians and public health experts and decline to follow the recommended vaccination schedule,” Schiff wrote in both letters. “Repetition of information, even if false, can often be mistaken for accuracy, and exposure to anti-vaccine content via social media may negatively shape user attitudes towards vaccination."
Schiff referenced a recent Guardian article reporting that searches on both Facebook and YouTube easily led users to anti-vaccine garbage. He also expressed concern over a report that Facebook accepts payments for anti-vaccine ads. Schiff didn’t name the source of that report, but an article published Thursday by The Daily Beast noted that seven Facebook pages that post and promote anti-vaccine bunkum were targeting women over the age of 25.
https://arstechnica.com/science/2019/02/facebook-working-on-additional-changes-to-beat-down-anti-vaxxers/?comments=1
That's something.
>Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) sent letters to Google CEO Sundar Pichai and Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg. In them, Schiff expressed concern over the outbreaks as well as the tech companies’ role in enabling the dissemination of medically inaccurate information.
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