Stop anti-vax threads.

[trhfxbtht]

I don't mean people who have genuine questions and worries, I mean people who start threads to spread disinformation and conspiracy theories with the intention of stopping people from getting a potentially life-saving vaccine.

There's a fair bit of disingenuous "worried" posts lately, isn't there?

Agreed, hope MN do something about this.

Hi there - we'd urge all Mumsnetters to report these to us using the report button above each post as and when you see them and we can look at each one.

The thing is, anyone who expresses some concern about the vaccine is labelled an anti-vaxxer with people frothing at the mouth to tell them to stop scaremongering.

I don't mean anyone who has concerns, I mean people who do nothing but spread negativity and rumours and lies.

Just saw your tweet in reply to Janey Godley saying there's no anti-vax content on here. Lol there's plenty.

twitter.com/MumsnetTowers/status/1326116568049340417

Hello @trhfxbtht just echoing EstherMumsnet - please report this kind of thing - we'll always take a look. If someone is here with a particular agenda it usually becomes apparent pretty quickly that they're not just someone looking for advice or reassurance. We tend to ban this kind of single-issue poster, but, for the most part, we find MNers are pretty good at debunking bad science and will do so quite robustly.

It's pretty understandable that with the emergence of the new vaccine, posters will want to discuss it at length - but we'll certainly be on extra alert for anyone here with a specific agenda.

I was going to start a thread on this myself as I’d read an article about lower vaccine uptake in people who had been exposed to misinformation and conspiracy theories.

I’ve seem some dubious threads, and didn’t report them as I checked the MN rules and there’s nothing to stop you posting stuff like this. Suggestions that the vaccine causes certain types of harm are insidious, and plenty of people without a scientific background will be able to do their own “research” which will back up whatever nonsense is being put forward. Why isn’t MN more assertive about what is and isn’t acceptable with regards to posts that seek to undermine public health initiatives.

Please do always report threads or posts which concern you, @Bvop

• we're always happy to take a look and will delete anything breaking our Talk Guidelines.

As @YetAnotherBeckyMumsnet said, MNers are pretty good at putting right any posters they believe aren't posting with good intentions. At times, we leave those sorts of threads standing in order not to lose the compelling arguments that MNers will post against scaremongering or attempts to spread misinformation.

We hope that helps but do please get in touch directly at [email protected] if you'd like to discuss it further.