Last weekBuzzfeed News reports that Amazon “appears to have removed” anti-vaccination documentaries like Vaxxed from Amazon Prime.
On the first of this month, California Rep. Adam Schiff published an open letter to Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos asking that Amazon remove anti-vax content to from its website.
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As the largest online marketplace in the world, Amazon is in a unique position to shape consumption. The algorithms which power social media platforms and Amazon’s recommendations are not designed to distinguish quality information from misinformation or misleading information and, as a result, harmful anti-vaccine messages have been able to thrive and spread. The consequences are particularly troubling for public health issues.”
Schiff Sends Letter to Amazon CEO Regarding Anti-Vaccine Misinformation
Schiff also wrote letters to Google and Facebook. Soon after YouTube banned advertising on some of the anti-vax videos and added additional pro-vaccine information. Google also said in a blog post that it will down-rank conspiracy theory videos.
Facebook says it’s “currently working on additional changes.”
Related: Facebook Planning To Censor Anti-Vaccination Posts
We have paid more than $4.03 billion dollars for vaccine damage lawsuits with our tax dollars.