Crackdown against anti-polio campaign on social media begins

Islamabad: Facebook, YouTube and Twitter have started removing anti-vaccination propaganda from their respective social media platforms in a bid to prevent free flow of factually incorrect information that discourages parents from vaccinating their children against poliovirus.“A legal framework is also under consideration to take action against persistent propagandists that are putting the lives of children and health workers at risk, said the PM’s Focal Person for Polio Eradication Babar Bin Atta while appreciating Facebook’s global regulatory and content management team’s assurance to Pakistan of their cooperation in the fight against polio during a video conference.A statement issued from the National Emergency Operations Centre said that the polio programme will continue to work with Facebook to identify and recommend action against users who spread hateful propaganda. The statement elaborated that parental refusals based on misconceptions propagated through social media, especially Facebook, is emerging as the major obstacle in achieving complete eradication.According to the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA), 174 links have been blocked so far of which 130 were from Facebook, 14 from Twitter and 30 from YouTube.

from The News International - National http://bit.ly/2WBDAav