Anti-vax proponents have used social media to spread health myths, suggesting vaccines can cause autism or that “natural immunity” is better than inoculation. (Such claims have been debunked repeatedly by doctors.) So in the last year, sites including Facebook and YouTube began working to stymie anti-vax misinformation through both algorithmic and ad-sales strategies.

The anti-vax movement has coincided with an alarming spike in preventable diseases:

* Measles cases reached a more than 25-year high in the U.S. this year.

* Chickenpox has broken out in schools with certain vaccinations exemptions.

* The World Health Organization currently lists "vaccine hesitancy" as one of the top ten threats to global health this year.

Pinterest is hoping a change to its search capabilities will stamp out viral misinformation about routine vaccinations on the platform.

Last Wednesday, the company announced that searches for terms including “vaccine safety” and “measles” will now only yield information from public health institutions like the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and World Health Organization (WHO).

Despite concrete scientific evidence that vaccines prevent disease, a growing “anti-vax” movement claims that vaccines have detrimental effects on children. Pinterest has over 300 million monthly visitors, many of whom could encounter anti-vax pins while searching for parenting advice or Instant Pot chicken & dumplings recipes.

But with Pinterest’s new search experience, certain queries will only show content from Pinterest's network of public health websites—no ads, no related pins, and no comments. “We’re taking this approach because we believe that showing vaccine misinformation alongside resources from public health experts isn’t responsible,” the company said ( More details: https://apnews.com/2fea5241a8594c88bf9a075f63fee845?utm_source=morning_brew).

This isn’t the first time Pinterest has tried to squash anti-vax messaging on the platform:

1) Earlier this year, Pinterest tried blocking all searches for vaccine-related info.

2) Before that, Pinterest’s community guidelines prohibited anti-vaccine advice and other health misinformation—but those guidelines weren’t strictly enforced.

Pinterest’s new policy addresses the so-called “data void” for reliable information about vaccines. And without safeguards, search functions like Pinterest's can queue up misleading content that's optimized to spread rapidly.

Bottom line: One in five adults trust social media sites like Pinterest and Facebook as a news source. Tweaking their search and sharing capabilities could quarantine false information from users moving forward.