Greater freedom of speech on Web 2.0 correlates with dominance of views linking vaccines to autism. Issue 12 (17th March 2015)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Venkatraman, Anand; Garg, Neetika; Kumar, Nilay
• Is Part Of: Vaccine. Volume 33:Issue 12(2015)
• Page Start: 1422
• Page End: 1425
• Publication Date: 2015-03-17
• Subjects: Vaccines -- Periodicals; 615.372
• DOI: 10.1016/j.vaccine.2015.01.078
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0264-410X

Abstract

<abstract abstract-type="author" id="abs0005"> <title id="sect0005">Abstract</title> <sec> <title id="sect0010">Introduction</title> <p id="spar0005">It is suspected that Web 2.0 web sites, with a lot of user-generated content, often support viewpoints that link autism to vaccines.</p> </sec> <sec> <title id="sect0015">Methods</title> <p id="spar0010">We assessed the prevalence of the views supporting a link between vaccines and autism online by comparing YouTube, Google and Wikipedia with PubMed. Freedom of speech is highest on YouTube and progressively decreases for the others.</p> </sec> <sec> <title id="sect0020">Results</title> <p id="spar0015">Support for a link between vaccines and autism is most prominent on YouTube, followed by Google search results. It is far lower on Wikipedia and PubMed. Anti-vaccine activists use scientific arguments, certified physicians and official-sounding titles to gain credibility, while also leaning on celebrity endorsement and personalized stories.</p> </sec> <sec> <title id="sect0025">Conclusions</title> <p id="spar0020">Online communities with greater freedom of speech lead to a dominance of anti-vaccine voices. Moderation of content by editors can offer balance between free expression and factual accuracy. Health communicators and medical institutions need to step up their activity on the Internet.</p> </sec> </abstract>