Ivermectin misinformation has plagued Amazon’s platform, with some fixes planned

Earlier this week I searched Amazon and made a mistake entering only two letters in: “iv”. Amazon then usefully compiled a list of suggested search results, almost all of which related to the horse dewormer version of the drug ivermectin. This drug is the focus of one of the newer and more mind-boggling parts of the story of anti-vaccine misinformation, a bogus medicine touted by hawkers and others to make a quick buck.

Tonight, Amazon spokesman Craig Andrews said The edge that “Amazon’s autocomplete responses are determined by customer activity. We are blocking some autocomplete responses to address these concerns. “

Like Facebook, TikTok, and Reddit, Amazon has failed to limit the spread of COVID-19 disinformation. Unlike these and other platforms, Amazon has apparently done very little to try and stop it.

Amazon isn’t alone in using an algorithm to generate its autocomplete results. But as companies like Google have learned, there are “data gaps” for previously unpopular search terms that can suddenly skew the algorithm when those terms are swept away by a new disinformation campaign. Google has gone to great lengths to try and resolve the lack of data issue, most recently with search results warnings that it says could suffer. At the time of this article’s publication, Amazon search results are still showing entries for ivermectin.

When you click on any of these suggested search terms, Amazon is simply listing plenty of options for buying the medicine for treating animals – without any further context on its dangers when ingested by humans. While there are legitimate uses for ivermectin in humans, treating COVID-19 is not one of them. And while it goes without saying that taking the vet version is a terrible idea, that’s exactly what’s happening.

In a bulletin released by the Mississippi Department of Health, the agency states that “at least 70% of recent calls [to poison control] have been linked to ingestion of livestock or animal formulations of ivermectin.

Ivermectin can cause side effects ranging from ‘rash, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, stomach pain, swelling of the face or limbs, neurological side effects (dizziness, seizures, confusion), sudden drop in blood pressure , severe rash potentially requiring hospitalization and injury (hepatitis), ”according to the FDA.

Where other platforms have made efforts to present information boxes leading to reliable and trustworthy information on COVID-19 and COVID-19 treatments, Amazon does not display such information in either its search results or on the product pages for Ivermectin. An Amazon spokesperson told me that if you search specifically for “ivermectin for covid,” it only shows a link to the FDA warning page on the drug.

It seems that on at least some product listings, at least some Amazon moderation teams are keeping tabs on issues. Some of the top research results for ivermectin have very few written reviews. Scroll down a bit, however, and there are many that are clearly intended to discuss the drug’s use in humans. One reviewer, for example, wrote that it “performed well on my 200 pound horse” and that “the long CV is already disappearing”. Another rated a 5-star product, writing that “I love the taste […] Ivermectin too hard to get, but so effective in preventing something I can’t mention here.

On Reddit, more than a hundred subreddits died today to protest the platform’s refusal to ban communities that spread misinformation about COVID-19. TikTok appears to be playing around with videos on its platform, and Facebook struggles to enforce its anti-disinformation policies as communities resort to euphemisms like “moo juice.”

On Amazon, veterinary ivermectin remains easy to find without being shown any scientific information that could inform a consumer of the dangers of taking an animal medicine. It also remains easy to buy on this platform, in some cases with free Amazon Prime delivery, provided by an Amazon warehouse.