What happens when a hugely popular public figure posts a picture of his baby? A whopping number of shares and likes! But, it makes more sense when such a post has a purpose attached to it.
This is what Mark Zuckerberg recently did by posting a Facebook picture of his baby visiting the doctor. The image instantly gathered 31,000 shares. But, that is not the point. With nearly 48 million followers on Facebook, Zuckerberg tried to spread a noble message by posting the image of daughter Max, who received her two-months shots at her doctor visit. He made sure that by posting the picture, he was spreading a bit of ‘child care’ news.
Last February, Zuckerberg had already recommended the book ‘On Immunity’ by Eula Bliss, to all his followers and friends. The book explains the science of vaccines and how the rumors about dangers of using vaccines are unfounded and baseless. Zuckerberg wrote on his Facebook page, “Vaccination is an important and timely topic.” He added, “The science is completely clear: vaccinations work and are important for the health of everyone in our community.”
This sort of initiative on Zuckerberg’s part is a bolt from the blue, and in contrast to the antivax crowd that has suddenly gone quiet in recent times. Jenny McCarthy, who had been campaigning on discrediting the link between vaccinations and autism has been silenced in her authority over the subject. On the other hand, Presidential candidates like Chris Christie and Rand Paul (a doctor by profession) withdrew from their antivax statements.
But it doesn’t stop the antivaccine crowd from sticking to their own set of beliefs. With the recent mumps and whooping cough outbreak that was traced back to an ‘unvaccinated visitor to Disneyworld’, it appears that there are still several people out there advocating the antivaccine ideology.
Zuckerberg could very well drive home the point by shutting down their Facebook pages and come harder on the antivax advocates from getting their harmful message out to the public. But as it is within the social networking site’s policy, Facebook doesn’t allow medical misinformation to be posted in the first place. This, of course, is among several other kinds of posts that aren’t allowed on Facebook. The site’s Community Standards page says, “We remove content, disable accounts, and work with law enforcement when we believe there is a genuine risk of physical harm or direct threats to public safety.”
But does this call for a Facebook ban on antivaxxers? It is most unlikely. For one, Mark Zuckerberg is not a government official. But as the CEO of a private organisation, he could best turn out to be a thought leader in posting his daughter’s picture who got vaccinated. Of course, the action is far from posing a threat to public safety like the antivaxxer parents who were responsible for the Disneyland outbreak.
Zuckerberg has rather used his role in giving food for thought. He has led the public to rethink about the established science behind the use of vaccines. A move like this will prompt the ironically wealthy, well-educated communities that have the lowest vaccine conformity and who tend to think they know more than the doctor when compared to the rural and poorer sections of the society.
While Zuckerberg’s move is persuasive enough, there might be others who would cling to the different school of thought. Some might even attribute his move as a conspiracy nonsense with added twist that “he and other information-age billionaires are all part of the larger plot.” A reader commented to testitfy this, “… I’d bet the farm, that he has no intention of vaccinating and dumbing down his child,” wrote one respondent. “However, what he, Bill Gates, and other elites, wants for your children, and a whole generation. Is much, much different than what they want their own kids,” was another response.
Irrespective of what the anitvax crowd has to say, what most billionaires around the world would want for children is protection against diseases. Therefore, it is the antivax ideology that is a real threat to the society, not the science behind vaccination itself.
