Facebook to ban anti-vaccination ads

Facebook has announced its second notable policy change in as many days.

The company said on Tuesday that it will be banning advertisements "discouraging people from getting vaccinated." Facebook previously had a policy of banning ads with vaccine hoaxes.

"Now, if an ad explicitly discourages someone from getting a vaccine, we'll reject it," Facebook said. "Enforcement will begin over the next few days."

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The step from Facebook comes amid concern among experts over whether a large enough percentage of the population will get an eventual COVID-19 vaccine. Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation's top infectious disease expert, has said the United States would be unlikely to achieve herd immunity if around a third of Americans refuse to get a coronavirus vaccine.

Facebook said, however, that "ads that advocate for or against legislation or government policies around vaccines — including a COVID-19 vaccine — are still allowed." The New York Times also notes that the move "will not remove user-generated content."

This, the Times' Mike Isaac wrote, was "another significant policy reversal," following Facebook's announcement on Monday that it would be banning Holocaust denial, despite CEO Mark Zuckerberg's 2018 defense of allowing posts that deny the Holocaust to remain online. In announcing this decision, Zuckerberg said his "thinking has evolved" on the issue.