‘An age of manufactured mistrust’: Here’s what rampant disinformation means for health, climate, and democracy
The U.K. has launched a campaign to persuade parents to have their kids vaccinated for measles, mumps, and rubella, following an increase in cases and a decrease in vaccination rates. Getty Image
Fortune Magazine
“Well over 300,000 Americans are in graveyards today because of the misinformation, the doubt, the suspicion, the distrust that caused them to say that vaccine is not safe for me. And it continues,” Dr. Francis Collins, the former head of the National Institutes of Health said in September 2022, citing a KFF estimate.
Disinformation not only continues but it’s getting worse. Public trust is declining due to social media, and increasingly, artificial intelligence (AI). As the COVID-19 pandemic showed, distrust can lead to preventable deaths.
Confidence continues to decline
Last month, the Florida Surgeon General called for a halt to COVID-19 vaccines, saying they can cause permanent harm. The FDA and CDC refuted his claim, but the harm is done. Last September, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, who backs his Surgeon General, said, “I will not stand by and let the FDA and CDC use healthy Floridians as guinea pigs for booster shots that have not proven to be safe or effective.”
A 2023 UNICEF report warned that confidence in childhood vaccines in many countries continues to decline, and a 2023 PEW study found that 28% of Americans said parents should be able to decide not to vaccinate their kids, up 12% from the previous year. MORE