While the platforms have made an effort to combat health misinformation and disinformation, Facebook, Google, and Twitter have historically shied from making judgments about political content or content that doesn’t explicitly tell the viewer to do something that will cause them harm. In the past, all three have maintained they are merely technology platforms and not arbiters of truth—at times to a ridiculous extent.Conspiracy theorists have exploited this position to great effect, creating misinformation that narrowly fits within a platform’s rules. For example, a video that suggests vaccines are ineffective or poisonous is considered “borderline content” by YouTube and is therefore demoted in its rankings—but not taken down. That doesn’t always stop its spread. Content makers can use other platforms to direct viewers to their videos. And in the event that a video is taken down—for example, in the case of the misinformation-riddled viral … [Read more...] about As health misinformation and politics collide, social networks face a choice
