The video has only been subjected to one fact check to date, from Ukrainian organisation and Facebook fact-checking partner VoxCheck. The language used in the video is alarmist, seeking to sow doubt about the makeup of the Pfizer vaccine. This claim is false: as highlighted by the Norweigan research organisation SINTEF, the Pfizer vaccine is made using mRNA technology and does not use living organisms. In the video, a person claims to show a magnified version of the Pfizer vaccine under a microscope and says that it is possible to see “living organisms” in it, adding that they ”don’t know what it is”. The spread of the video among online misinformation communities in the country highlights the inconsistencies in how Facebook applies fact-checking labels to unverified and misleading content. A video first uploaded on Facebook by a Dutch anti-vaccination and flat earth conspiracy theorist has generated a wave of COVID-19 vaccine fears in the Netherlands and across the globe. Misleading Pfizer vaccine video goes global. Misinformation specifically about the vaccine ➜ There are signs that Facebook is serving as a gateway for COVID-19 extremist discussions on other online platforms in the Netherlands.
➜ National databases for monitoring adverse vaccine reactions are being misused to spread misleading and alarmist messaging about COVID-19 vaccines. ➜ There is an inconsistent approach to fact-checking similar pieces of misleading COVID-19 vaccine content on Facebook, as evidenced by the spread of a Dutch vaccine misinformation video across Facebook – both within and beyond the Netherlands.
➜ Across a sample of 75 public groups and 53 pages in the Netherlands that regularly feature COVID-19 vaccine misinformation, as of 30 April 2021 there are now over 789,400 Facebook users that like these pages/are members of these groups, compared to 484,100 users on 31 October 2020. ➜ Dutch COVID-19 misinformation communities on Facebook have grown by 63% in the past six months.
#MAY VACCINE MISINFORMATION UNDERMINE EFFORTS IMMUNIZE SERIES#
It is part of an ongoing series examining COVID-19 vaccine misinformation on Facebook across several countries.įor more on the methodology used, see here. This article looks at how Dutch communities on Facebook promoted COVID-19 vaccine misinformation between 1-30 April 2021.
In the online world, conspiracies and misinformation are commonly used to downplay the severity of the coronavirus, undermine nationwide efforts to tackle its spread and promote anxieties about the vaccine. In the Netherlands, protests against COVID-19 restrictions and evening curfews have generated anger and hostility, resulting in riots, as well as a small explosion and arson attacks on vaccination centers in January and March. COVID-19 vaccine misinformation is giving rise to threatening comments and discussions online as well as increasing the risk of detrimental public health outcomes offline.
0 kommentar(er)
