Facebook’s Anti-Vaxxer Problem Under Fire Following 4-Year-Old’s Death From Flu

Facebook — a company notorious for its bizarre defense of permit rearing misinformation to spread like wildfire on its platform — has found itself under fire again after a mother whose 4 - yr - old son reportedly died of the grippe this week rick to an anti - vaxxer group on the internet site for treatment recommendation for her children , a pattern that is somehow still permitted on Facebook despite these group often spreading information this is dangerous and potentially deadly .

concord to the Facebook posts obtained by the Times Recorder , the woman expressed that two of her children were run gamey febrility of over 100 degrees . on the face of it ignore the handling course the cleaning woman shared was prescribed by a Dr. , commenters instead recommended “ rent Vitamin five hundred and C , Elderberry , Zinc , and eating lots of fruit and vegetables ” as well as “ boiling thyme on the stove ” and nursing . The same commenter who recommended “ cutis to hide ” nursing as a treatment course also recommended giving the woman ’s 10 - calendar month - old with the flu vitamin one C “ until looseness . ”

According to a GoFundMe Thomas Nelson Page seemingly belong to the parents of the 4 - year - old kid and set up for medical expenses , the 4 - twelvemonth - erstwhile collapsed and was later hospitalize . A post share Thursday said that the boy had “ been use up off of life support and has go along . ” The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment sustain to localCBS - affiliated KKTVthat “ a preschool - aged child in southern Colorado has died of flu , ” adding it was the second death in a tiddler come to to the flu this time of year .

Photo: Justin Sullivan (Getty)

Facebook did not reply to multiple request for comment about the incident or why it does not ban these grave communities , prefer alternatively not to demote them and plaster them with disclaimer . In a argument to NBC News , the company offer up its “ thought ” to the phratry and added that it does n’t “ want vaccinum misinformation on Facebook , which is why we ’re work on hard to reduce it everywhere on the platform , include in secret groups . ”

But demoting misinformation is n’t enough . The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention country that “ the spread of myths and misinformation has put some community at risk ” and remain a problem — arguably in big part thanks to chopine like Facebook that turn away to do anything about the conspiracy possibility and lies that fester on its site and advance dangerous doings .

Facebook ’s reply to this incident is awkward . No amount of “ thought ” are go to bestow back somebody ’s kid .

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