Facebook took down major anti-vaccination groups — but research shows they already did their damage

Coronavirus vaccine candidate.
(Image credit: Getty Images)

Facebook's ban on anti-vaccination groups may be too little, too late when it comes to encouraging vaccinations for COVID-19.

First banning anti-vaccination ads on its platform in October, Facebook took another step last week as it removed the biggest anti-vaccine groups spreading misinformation about the coronavirus. But researchers say the damage may have already been done, as those groups have already spread misinformation about the COVID-19 vaccine far and wide, and smaller groups have already spread enough anti-vaccine misinformation to replace them, NBC News reports.

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
Kathryn Krawczyk

Kathryn is a graduate of Syracuse University, with degrees in magazine journalism and information technology, along with hours to earn another degree after working at SU's independent paper The Daily Orange. She's currently recovering from a horse addiction while living in New York City, and likes to share her extremely dry sense of humor on Twitter.