DETROIT – A total of 12 Attorneys General penned a letter calling on social media to remove anti-vaccine content.
Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel is among them and was on CNN recently voicing concern about the misinformation posted about vaccines online.
The letter calls on Facebook and Twitter to start cracking down on accounts similar to the way the platforms did surrounding misinformation about the 2020 election.
While speaking on CNN Nessel stated that anti-vaccine content has already reached 59 million Americans online.
“Twelve personal accounts and associated organizations are responsible for 65% of the public anti vaccination content that is circulating. They have already reached over 59 million people, many of whom may have gotten vaccinated, and are otherwise skeptical,” Nessel tweeted Sunday.
The call to end misinformation comes as an alarming number of Michiganders say they will not be getting the vaccine.
According to a recent poll, nearly 1 in 4 adults in Michigan say they will forgo the vaccine and the state also has a new partisan challenge with 47 percent of state Republicans saying they won’t get vaccinated either.
“A decade ago, the journey to the COVID vaccine began building upon research on other coronaviruses,” read an ad aimed at encouraging people to get the vaccine.
The state has started new campaigns to help educate those with doubts or concerns about the vaccine.
“I think it’s something that’s been a challenge throughout this entire pandemic, but again that’s just something we as public health experts and leaders have to really focus on and make sure that we are working with communities, making sure we’re not shaming people for having questions about the vaccines, making sure we’re getting the right information out into the community,” said Joneigh Khaldun, Chief Medical Executive for the State of Michigan and Chief Deputy Director for Health in the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services.
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Twelve personal accounts and associated organizations are responsible for 65% of the public anti vaccination content that is circulating. They have already reached over 59 million people, many of whom may have gotten vaccinated, and are otherwise skeptical. pic.twitter.com/WPmFQrUmND
— Dana Nessel (@dananessel) March 28, 2021