Facebook has announced that it will start banning ads that explicitly discourage people from getting vaccinated, the world's largest social media company said on Tuesday, as it also announced a new flu vaccine information campaign.
Ads advocating for or against legislation or government policies around vaccines, including a COVID-19 vaccine, will still be allowed, the company said in a blog post. It will begin to enforce the new global policy in the next few days.
Facebook has been under pressure from lawmakers and public health groups to crack down on anti-vaccine content and misinformation on its platform. The company said that although a COVID-19 vaccine would not be available for some time, the pandemic had highlighted the importance of preventative health behaviours.
Facebook's previous rules prohibited ads containing vaccine misinformation or hoaxes identified by leading health organizations, but allowed ads opposing vaccines if they did not contain false claims.
Facebook will also start directing U.S. users this week to information about the flu vaccine and how to get it, according to the company's Head of Health Kang-Xing Jin and Director of Product Management Rob Leathern in the blog post.
Anti-vaccine content and misinformation about the new COVID-19 vaccines have flourished on social media platforms including Facebook during the coronavirus pandemic.
