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• May spreading misinformation undermine efforts immunize how to#

But false claims and conspiracies about Covid vaccines are already looking more difficult to police than those social media companies have had to deal with in the past.

May spreading misinformation undermine efforts immunize how to#

If mistrust - or even just confusion - makes people more reluctant to get immunized, it could imperil efforts to end the pandemic that has claimed the lives of more than 315,000 Americans and 1.5 million people around the world.Īnd that herculean task of building public trust will soon fall to Biden, who will have to decide whether his administration should play a role in efforts to curb vaccine falsehoods online.Īnti-vaccination movements are not new to the online landscape, and tech platforms have long been grappling with how to handle them. Skepticism is starting out high: As recently as late November, 40 percent of Americans said they would “definitely” or “probably” decide against getting inoculated - primarily out of concern about the vaccines’ safety and efficacy, according to a survey by the Pew Research Center. He and a number of other congressional leaders are urging President-elect Joe Biden to tap a misinformation expert for his Covid-19 task force. “Distrust of vaccines has increased with loud voices using the platforms to spread fear,” said House Intelligence Chair Adam Schiff (D-Calif.). It might be difficult to tell the difference.” “Some of it will be good and some of it will be misleading. Michael Burgess of Texas, the top Republican on the House Energy and Commerce health subcommittee and a physician. “One of my biggest concerns is that social media companies will have difficulty handling the sheer volume of information,” said Rep. It’s a challenge that could be even more difficult to overcome than election misinformation, which centered largely around one day in November and could be debunked by officials pointing to well-established protocols.Īlarms are already sounding in Washington.