Facebook Bans Ads Discouraging Vaccination

On Tuesday, Facebook announced the new banning regulations of ads that do not promote getting vaccinated. This comes hot in heels after successfully launching a public health campaign, centred around spreading information about flu vaccinations. 

These changes form part of Facebook’s new policy strategy, hence the previous policy did not accommodate ads that, carried messaging regarding vaccine misinformation, however ads that did not perpetuate false claims were permitted on the site.

The powers that be also stated that, ads that were in support or against government policies and legislation regarding policies on vaccines, including covid -19 vaccine would still be allowed. Many ads that are against vaccine mandates still remained on the Facebook site as of Tuesday.

In an official public statement, Facebook expressed the following:

“If we removed all rumors and hoaxes, the content would still be available elsewhere on the internet, social media ecosystem – or even around the dinner table. By leaving this content up we can provide people with important information and context instead of creating an information vacuum.”

In a few days, Facebook is set to introduce new regulations. This comes after the public health groups and lawmakers pressurised the popular social media company, with regards to putting more measures around misinformation and anti vaccine content.