This archive report was first published on 29 August 2019.
Published on August 29, 2019, Pinterest has taken a significant step in addressing vaccine misinformation by directing users searching for vaccine-related information to results from public health organizations.
The move comes as social media companies face increasing scrutiny over their content moderation policies. In recent months, other firms, including Facebook, have taken steps to address vaccine misinformation.
Under the new policy, searches for terms like 'measles,' 'vaccine safety,' and other related health terms will return results from reputable sources, including the World Health Organization (WHO), the Centres for Disease Control, and the WHO-established Vaccine Safety Net.
'We're taking this approach because we believe that showing vaccine misinformation alongside resources from public health experts isn't responsible,' Pinterest said in a statement.
The firm also stated that it will remove accounts that spread health misinformation and won't show ads, comments, or recommendations on results pages for vaccine searches.
The WHO has identified anti-vaccine views as a 'top 10 global health threat' in 2019, and the volume of anti-vaccine sentiment on social media has risen in recent years, sparking concern that it is having a negative impact on immunization rates in some countries.
