Liverpool comedy club axes pilot event after anti-vaccine passport trolls bombard venue

A comedy club has axed its pilot event after anti-vaccine passport trolls bombarded the venue with ‘4,000 hate messages’ despite the trial not using jab certificates. The Hot Water Comedy Club in Liverpool said it was subjected to a ‘hate campaign’ online after reports suggested it was working with the Department for Digital, Culture, Media … Read more

65% Facebook and Twitter anti-vaccine content linked to just 12 people including Robert F Kennedy Jr

Around two-thirds of viral anti-vaccine social media content circulating on Facebook and Twitter has been linked to just 12 notable individuals in new research. Content that was shared more than 812,000 times on the social media platforms between February 1 and March 16 was analysed by The Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH) and Anti-Vax … Read more

The disinformation dozen: Two-thirds of anti-vaccine content on social media is spread by 12 people

Around two-thirds of viral anti-vaccine social media content circulating on Facebook and Twitter has been linked to just 12 notable individuals in new research. Content that was shared more than 812,000 times on the social media platforms between February 1 and March 16 was analysed by The Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH) and Anti-Vax … Read more

Anti-vaccine cranks target V-Day heroine Margaret: 91-year-old is labelled an actress

Anti-vaxxers have mocked and smeared V-Day heroine Margaret Keenan on social media sites amid a surge of ‘toxic misinformation’. A mob of online conspiracy theorists – some claiming to be NHS staff – used Facebook to spread slurs about the 91-year-old grandmother and her family after she became the first in the world to have … Read more

Woman reveals how a picture of a skin condition on her foot sparked slew of anti-vaccine propaganda

A woman who is suffering from an unexplained skin condition on her feet has told how a misunderstanding over its cause sparked a slew of anti-vaccine propaganda to spread online.  Patricia Chandler, from Texas, began experiencing pain in her foot in October, less than a week after she took part in a Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine trial. When … Read more

British Army’s Information Warfare Unit will be deployed to tackle anti-vaccine propaganda

The British Army’s Information Warfare Unit will be deployed to tackle anti-vaccine propaganda ahead of the coronavirus vaccine rollout, it has been revealed.  Soldiers are already monitoring cyberspace for Covid-19 content to find out how British citizens are being targeted online, leaked documents showed. It comes amid a rise in the number of anti-lockdown and … Read more

GCHQ spies launch cyber counter-attack against anti-vaccine propaganda being spread by Russia 

GCHQ spies launch cyber counter-attack against anti-vaccine propaganda being spread by Russia The government is determined to tackle anti-vaxxer propaganda spread online  GCHQ has launched a new campaign targeting hostile propaganda by Russia  Russian propagandists are targeting the Oxford vaccine with monkey memes  By Danyal Hussain For Mailonline Published: 02:01 GMT, 9 November 2020 | … Read more

The double agent who brought down the anti-vaccine fanatics

Almost three years into my investigation of Andrew Wakefield, the now-disgraced former medical researcher who claimed that vaccines cause autism, Wendy Stephen stepped into my life. It was June 2006 and she introduced herself in a 600-word email as the mother of a vaccine-injured child.  She told me that in 1991, her baby daughter had … Read more