Ohio teen who bucked his anti-vax mother to get immunized warns the Senate about Facebook's influence

Ohio teen testifies about vaccinations in the Senate

(Image credit: Screenshot/YouTube/AP)

Ethan Lindenberger, a high school senior in Ohio, gained national attention after he went on Reddit in December to ask how to get vaccinated now that he was 18 and free to act without the consent of his anti-vaccination mother. (The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has advice.)

On Tuesday, Lindenberger testified before the Senate health committee, focusing on the need to fight misinformation and conspiracy theories about vaccinations — especially on Facebook — with "credible" information and better social media curation.

"I feel like if my mom didn't interact with that information ... it could've potentially changed everything," Lindenberger said. "My entire family could've been vaccinated." He said he decided to get himself immunized after slowly realizing the benefits vastly outweighed any risks, and that "my school viewed me as a health threat."

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Lindenberger would argue with his mother, citing the CDC and other sources, he told the Senate, but she would counter with baseless claims she saw on Facebook. "She didn't trust any sources," he told The Washington Post. "She thought vaccines were a conspiracy by the government to kill children."

Lindenberger's mother, Jill Wheeler, told The Associated Press she was proud of how her son comported himself in the hearing, though "I didn't agree with anything he said" and wondered why "they've made him the poster child for the pharmaceutical industry."

Facebook isn't just a conduit for bad information on vaccines, it also hosts self-reinforcing anti-vaccination groups and serves "targeted advertisements and anti-vaccination materials aimed toward women in regions with high numbers of measles reports," the Post reports. Anti-vaccination "hot spots" have fueled six current outbreaks of measles in 11 states, though the highly contagious disease was eliminated in the U.S. in 2000.

A major study published Monday confirmed that the measles, mumps, rubella (MMR) vaccine is safe and does not cause autism. Learn more in the video below. Peter Weber

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Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.