"Media Matters Pushes Censorship of Vaccine Safety Groups

A smear piece from Media Matters, titled "The Most Notorious Anti-Vax Groups Use Facebook to Lay the Groundwork Against the Novel Coronavirus Vaccine,"19 lays the groundwork for discrediting the National Vaccine Information Center (NVIC), Children's Health Defense and Informed Consent Action Network. The article begins by casting such groups as a threat during COVID-19:20

As novel coronavirus cases spike in the U.S. and numerous efforts are underway to develop a vaccine, the most prominent U.S. anti-vaccination organizations are using Facebook and other social media platforms to poison the well against a potential vaccine.

Media Matters is angry that Facebook allows the groups' social media communications to appear educational rather than branding them as "vaccine misinformation." This is especially important, writes Media Matters, because support for vaccination among the general public is falling:21

Support in the U.S. for vaccination generally has been on a downward trend for the past two decades. A January 2020 poll released by Gallup found that 84% of Americans believe it is 'important' to vaccinate children, down from 94% in 2001.

The poll found that support for vaccination has declined 'among almost all subgroups of the U.S. public.' Gallup attributed the decline in support for vaccination to the spread of false information about vaccines, in particular the debunked link between vaccines and autism."