Instagram's attack to the dangerous lies about the spread of vaccines on the photo-sharing site



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INSTAGRAM intensifies its fight against anti-vaccination lies.

The inaccurate and misleading anti-vaccination messages posted on social networks would be one of the reasons for the drop in vaccination rates in recent years. An estimated 169 million children worldwide have not received the first dose of measles vaccine between 2010 and 2017, according to recent figures from the Unicef ​​charity.

    Instagram is stepping up its fight against anti-vaccination lies, pledging to go further to find hidden information about anti-vax

PA: Press Association

Instagram is stepping up its fight against anti-vaccination lies, pledging to go further to find hidden information about anti-vax

The Facebook-owned platform is already blocking the obvious hashtag terms used to spread false information, such as #vaccinescauseautism, #vaccinescauseaids and poison vaccines, but its policy is now extended to treat vaccine hashtags that appear innocent on the surface.

When a hashtag is blocked, users receive no results when they search for it on the social network.

The approach of Instagram continues to target only erroneous information about vaccines and not anti-vax opinions, for which it has not committed to act.

This decision comes after Facebook declared that it was "exploring additional measures" to tackle anti-vaccination messages in February, following concerns raised about the controversial topic appearing in groups and organizations. Facebook pages.

Last month, Health Secretary Matt Hanbad said he would "exclude anything" when asked if unvaccinated children should be banned from school.

NHS England Executive Director Simon Stevens also described the refusal of the vaccine as a "public health time bomb".

PA: Press Association

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