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DOSSIER – This archive photo from February 6, 2015 shows a measles, mumps and rubella vaccine on a counter in a pediatric clinic in Greenbrae, California. A measles outbreak near Portland has left dozens of suspected cases sick, and public health officials struggling to contain the virus say low vaccination rates make the situation worse. Clark County Public Health said Sunday, January 28, 2019 that the majority of cases involved children under 10 years. (AP Photo / Eric Risberg, File)
A study revealed that Russian troll accounts that had tried to influence the US election were also chatting about vaccines.
The study published by the American Public Health Association revealed that automated accounts and trolls, human but hidden in their own agenda, transmit false information on vaccines on social sites like Twitter.
The researchers studied the tweets from 2014 to 2018. The study revealed that a significant number of online debates had been generated by these fake accounts.
David Broniatowski, a professor at George Washington University, is one of the authors of the study. He says robots and trolls are about 22 times more likely to tweet about vaccinations on both sides – both pro and anti-vaccines.
The researchers found that the false accounts originated in Russia and were intended to create mistrust and discord in the immunization debate.
In fact, they make people hesitate to get vaccinated.
"This dramatically increases the likelihood of an epidemic – um, and that's partly because of the way epidemics work," Broniatowski said.
Broniatowski says that these robots and trolls started using #VaccinateUS on Twitter. He adds that they may seem to talk about health, but they have their own hidden programs.
"They can simply use it as a way to reach subscribers, clicks, capture attention or stir up discord," Broniatowski said. "It's not really about Russia versus the US, it's about the present, about preventing an epidemic that could really cause a lot of diseases around the world."
The study also revealed that a majority of Americans who thought vaccines were safe and effective were turning to Twitter and thinking differently.
Karen Dohman of Vancouver says all her children and grandchildren are vaccinated. She urges people to consult social media for information, including public health information.
"I'm not surprised by anything on these sites," she said. "I think that they take everything for the hook, the line and the lead when they should not."
Kathy Kenworthy from Vancouver does not think the debate is in black and white. She says she's not surprised and says that fake accounts are turning Americans against each other.
"I'm confused, I do not know what's right," said Kenworthy. "We must not fight, we must focus on children, on what is important."
Broniatowski says it's hard to distinguish between real people or trolls and bots. Generally, he says that they are not usually audited accounts, but that they can fool celebrity accounts or audited accounts for retweet. He also said that trolls used to publish malicious links and summary websites, and that robots usually only retweeted information.
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