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YouTube Breeding Harmful Scientific Misinformation

Posted by kdawson on from the playing-to-the-emotions dept.

Invisible Pink Unicorn writes "University of Toronto researchers have uncovered widespread misinformation in videos on YouTube related to vaccination and immunization. In the first-ever study of its kind, they found that over half of the 153 videos analyzed portrayed childhood, HPV, flu and other vaccinations negatively or ambiguously. They also found that videos highly skeptical of vaccinations received more views and better ratings by users than those videos that portray immunizations in a positive light. According to the lead researcher, 'YouTube is increasingly a resource people consult for health information, including vaccination. Our study shows that a significant amount of immunization content on YouTube contradicts the best scientific evidence at large. From a public health perspective, this is very concerning.' An extract from the Journal of the American Medical Association is available online."

2 of 816 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Big deal by Russ+Nelson · · Score: 4, Funny

    it was harder for the uneducated or misinformed to get an audience,

    Oh? The newspapers cover their every word up to the time when one of them gets elected.
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    Don't piss off The Angry Economist
  2. Re:Big deal by kestasjk · · Score: 5, Funny

    That's a nice idea, but unfortunately contradicted by reality. We are the subjects of a plutocracy, our government is wholly owned by corporations, and the constitution gets little more than lip service these days. [Citation needed]
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    // MD_Update(&m,buf,j);