Facebook finally bans anti-vax ads

Facebook says it will finally ban anti-vax ads.

But it will still allow ads that push against governments policies that promote vaccines, it said.

The decision comes amid increasing concern about the movement’s dangers for public health, as well as worries that Facebook is helping promote such posts.

Facebook noted that there almost certainly will not be any approved or publicly available Covid-19 vaccine for some time, but that the coronavirus outbreak meant that other public health measures – including the flu shot – are even more important than normal.

In that context, it said it would ban ads everywhere “that discourage people from getting a vaccine”. It will also launch a “new flu vaccine information campaign on Facebook” and work with “global health partners on campaigns to increase immunisation rates”.