Countering anti-vax content on social media amid pandemic

The UK based Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH) has published a report that assesses the impact of social media accounts sharing anti-vaccination content between May and June 2020. The report states that these social media accounts have gained about 8 million followers since 2019 and the number continues to grow. It emphasised that the prevalence and popularity of anti-vax accounts is the result of deliberate decisions, meaning that platforms chose not to remove anti-vax advertising that is estimated to be worth up to US$1 billion per year. The CCDH called on social media companies to enforce their respective policies on misinformation related to COVID-19 and other public health issues.