A video dubbed "Plandemic" that brought together unsubstantiated and debunked claims and conspiracies about the coronavirus, featuring a discredited virologist who is also aligned with the anti-vaccine movement, gathered millions of views last week.
Social media platforms have since removed the video for violating misinformation policies, but the 26-minute video highlights one way that the anti-vaccine movement is feeding into the recent surge of misinformation and disinformation swirling around COVID-19.
Now a new study further underscores the challenges of curbing misinformation, showing that efforts to promote accurate medical information about vaccines on Facebook are failing to reach wide audiences. If people were to resist taking a future coronavirus vaccine that's shown to be safe and effective, it could threaten the ability to corral the pandemic.