An anti-vaccine group run by Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has been removed from both Instagram and Facebook for promoting medical misinformation.
Children's Health Defense said on its website that it has been suspended on Instagram and "unpublished" on Facebook, and Meta confirmed to The New York Times the accounts were removed for "repeatedly" violating its policies against misinformation. The non-profit organization has spread false information about the safety and efficacy of vaccines, including coronavirus vaccines. It says it had "hundreds of thousands of followers" on the platforms.
Kennedy, who serves as chair of the group, accused Facebook of "acting here as a surrogate for the Federal government's crusade to silence all criticism of draconian government policies." Facebook, meanwhile, told the group that "we encourage free expression, but don't allow false information about COVID-19 that could contribute to physical harm."
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
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.
Kennedy has for years promoted false information about vaccines, and he was banned from Instagram in 2021 "for repeatedly sharing debunked claims about the coronavirus or vaccines." He still, however, has an account on Facebook. According to the Times, Meta had "over a dozen discussions" over the past year about removing Children's Health Defense's accounts before taking action.
But Karen Kornbluh, director of the Digital Innovation and Democracy Initiative, argued to The Associated Press that this step is "too late and too little."
-
September 14 editorial cartoonsCartoons Sunday’s political cartoons include RFK Jr on the hook, the destruction of discourse, and more
-
Air strikes in the Caribbean: Trump’s murky narco-warTalking Point Drug cartels ‘don’t follow Marquess of Queensberry Rules’, but US military air strikes on speedboats rely on strained interpretation of ‘invasion’
-
A tour of Sri Lanka’s beautiful northThe Week Recommends ‘Less frenetic’ than the south, this region is full of beautiful wildlife, historical sites and resorts
-
Texas declares end to measles outbreakSpeed Read The vaccine-preventable disease is still spreading in neighboring states, Mexico and Canada
-
RFK Jr. shuts down mRNA vaccine funding at agencySpeed Read The decision canceled or modified 22 projects, primarily for work on vaccines and therapeutics for respiratory viruses
-
Cytomegalovirus can cause permanent birth defectsThe Explainer The virus can show no symptoms in adults
-
Measles cases surge to 33-year highSpeed Read The infection was declared eliminated from the US in 2000 but has seen a resurgence amid vaccine hesitancy
-
Kennedy's vaccine panel signals skepticism, changeSpeed Read RFK Jr.'s new vaccine advisory board intends to make changes to the decades-old US immunization system
-
Kennedy ousts entire CDC vaccine advisory panelspeed read Health Secretary RFK Jr. is a longtime anti-vaccine activist who has criticized the panel of experts
-
RFK Jr. scraps Covid shots for pregnant women, kidsSpeed Read The Health Secretary announced a policy change without informing CDC officials
-
New FDA chiefs limit Covid-19 shots to elderly, sickspeed read The FDA set stricter approval standards for booster shots
