Category: Misinformation, Disinformation, and Conspiracy Theories
Information Inoculation: Defending Against Medical Myths: Why we need to fight misinformation about vaccines | Ethan Lindenberger
TED Podcast Ethan Lindenberger never got vaccinated as a kid. So one day, he went on Reddit and asked a simple question: “Where do I go to get vaccinated?” The post went viral, landing Lindenberger in the middle of a heated debate about vaccination and, ultimately, in front of a US Senate committee. Less than […]
Jun 4, 2025
Separating Snake Oil From Science
The Dispatch When the lines between expert and huckster are increasingly blurry, how do we determine what’s authoritative? Health communication—especially across social media—has become that pooling equilibrium. It used to be the case that when the results of scientific studies were disseminated, the messaging came from your doctor or national organizations like the American Academy of […]
May 21, 2025
Physicians Sound Alarm: Vaccine Misinformation and Policy Failures Threaten US Public Health
Infection Control Today We find ourselves at a pivotal moment in public health. On one side, we are experiencing an extraordinary wave of vaccine innovation, offering new platforms, protections, and avenues for disease prevention. Conversely, we face an unprecedented decline in public trust. Vaccine misinformation has transitioned from a fringe concern to a dominant force […]
May 14, 2025
The little-known database at the heart of Kennedy’s vaccine conspiracy theory
NBC News Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has long claimed a secret database holds the truth about vaccines and autism. Now that he’s in charge, his anti-vaccine supporters wonder — can he deliver? For as long as Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has falsely claimed that vaccines cause widespread harm — from autism to sudden death — […]
May 7, 2025
Measles Misinformation Is on the Rise — And Americans Are Hearing It, Survey Finds
KFF While the most serious measles epidemic in a decade has led to the deaths of two children and spread to 27 states with no signs of letting up, beliefs about the safety of the measles vaccine and the threat of the disease are sharply polarized, fed by the anti-vaccine views of the country’s seniormost […]
May 7, 2025
Anti-Vaxxers Are Grifting Off the Measles Outbreak—and Claim a Bioweapon Caused It
Wired Activists affiliated with Robert F. Kennedy Jr. are selling a “measles treatment and prevention protocol” for hundreds of dollars, including supplements supposedly formulated by AI. Anti-vaccine activists with close ties to US health secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. are falsely claiming that the measles public health crisis in Texas is caused by a “bioweapon” targeting the Mennonite community. […]
Apr 23, 2025
Like measles, misinformation is spreading, poll finds
NPR The U.S. has now reported more than 800 measles cases in at least two dozen states. The vast majority of cases — more than 600 — are in Texas. In the midst of the outbreak, a new poll shows how much misinformation people are seeing about measles. The good news is the vast majority of people […]
Apr 23, 2025
Anti-vaccine advocates battle over narrative in West Texas, downplaying role of measles in deaths
Texas Tribune After Daisy Hildebrand died of measles, her death was made public first by Dr. Robert Malone, a vaccine skeptic who blamed the hospital for fumbling her care. Daisy’s father told The Texas Tribune he never to spoke to Malone. When Daisy Hildebrand became the second Texas child to die of measles on April […]
Apr 16, 2025
Measles cases linked to Texas outbreak reach 561, with 20 new infections confirmed
USA Today Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said the measles vaccine is “leaky” because its effectiveness wanes over time, something medical experts dispute. Kennedy, a vaccine skeptic who now oversees the nation’s federal health agencies, said the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is doing a “very good job” of controlling the measles outbreak that has […]
Apr 16, 2025
Flawed Flu Vaccine Study Sparks Misinformation Storm
MedPageToday Jeremy Faust debunks viral claims of negative effectiveness in Cleveland Clinic report. In a video originally published on Inside Medicine, MedPage Today editor-in-chief Jeremy Faust takes aim at a widely circulated Cleveland Clinic preprint on flu vaccine effectiveness — one that was touted on Fox News as proof that this year’s flu shot made people more likely to get sick. […]
Apr 15, 2025