Facebook will downrank anti-vax propaganda posts

Facebook is taking stricter efforts to battle the rise of anti-vaccination content on its platform.

The social networking giant will start downranking groups and pages that spread misinformation about vaccination on both News Feed and its search function.

According to TechCrunch, Facebook will also reject ads promoting anti-vaccination propaganda. Those who repeatedly post such content through ads may even see accounts getting disabled.

Facebook is taking similar measures for Instagram on which it will stop showing or recommending content that contains misinformation about vaccinations on Instagram Explore or hashtag pages. It will also remove anti-vaccination ad targeting descriptors such as 'vaccine controversies'.

The measures come in light of the implications of online misinformation. The US is currently battling an outbreak of measles which is entirely preventable but social media misinformation is wrongfully influencing people against getting their children vaccinated.