Facebook bans anti-vaccination ads but not antivax posts

Facebook says it will ban ads on its platform that discourage vaccinations — with an exception carved out for advocacy ads about government vaccine policies.

The company already bans ads about vaccine “hoaxes”, such as the false idea that vaccinations cause autism. The latest policy expands the ban to ads that discourage vaccines for any reason.

But Facebook also said on Tuesday that ads that advocate for or against legislation or government policies around vaccines — including a COVID-19 vaccine — will still be allowed. These ads will still have to be approved by the company as political advertisements and include a paid for by label on who is funding them.

And unpaid posts by people or groups that discourage vaccinations will also still be allowed — the new policy only includes paid advertisements.

Since the pandemic began, the company has tightened its rules around COVID-related misinformation. For instance, it promotes articles that debunk COVID-19 misinformation, of which there are thousands, on a new information center called Get The Facts. It also bans what it deems “dangerous” misinformation about the virus and has removed posts by President Donald Trump under this policy. – The Hindu