How anti-vaccine groups are camouflaging themselves on Facebook

Facebook logo.
(Image credit: KENZO TRIBOUILLARD/AFP via Getty Images)

Certain anti-vaccination groups are changing their names on Facebook in an attempt at evading bans from the social network, NBC News reports. Euphemisms include names like "Dance Party" or "Dinner Party," which then signal to members to use coded language and words to fit those themes.

For example, during discussions that typically "perpetuate debunked theories about the vaccines," members write "danced" or "drank beer" to mean "got the vaccine," per NBC News. "Pizza" often refers to Pfizer, and "Moana" to Moderna. Users generally "play around with unofficial language about dancing to create more coded language," NBC News writes. And the charade contains on Instagram — some anti-vax influencers reportedly refer to the vaccinated as "swimmers" and the act of vaccination as "joining a 'swim club.'"

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up
Explore More
To continue reading this article...
Continue reading this article and get limited website access each month.
Get unlimited website access, exclusive newsletters plus much more.
Cancel or pause at any time.
Already a subscriber to The Week?
Not sure which email you used for your subscription? Contact us
Brigid Kennedy

Brigid Kennedy worked at The Week from 2021 to 2023 as a staff writer, junior editor and then story editor, with an interest in U.S. politics, the economy and the music industry.