Anti-vaccine conspiracy theories are running rampant on social media sites – despite a promise by tech giants to halt their spread. It came as Labour called on the Government to introduce emergency laws to tackle the spread of anti-vaccine misinformation. Engagement in Facebook posts mentioning the vaccine and Bill Gates, the Microsoft founder at the centre of multiple conspiracies, more than trebled in 24 hours. A scaremongering video claiming the Pfizer coronavirus vaccine is unsafe was shared almost 5,000 times on Facebook. Labour's health spokesman Jonathan Ashworth yesterday said there should be penalties for social media platforms which allow misinformation to spread.

Source: Daily Mail November 15, 2020 23:18 UTC