Lately there seems to be a great deal of anti-vaccination propaganda going around on the internet through various social network sites and forums. It struck home the other day when I learned my younger sister, a so-called "crunchy mom" who refuses to use formula and disposable diapers, among other things, will not be vaccinating my newborn nephew-- if she can help it. My wife and I put in our two cents, but we are not in any position to try and force my sister to raise her children in any particular way.
What is really disturbing are the sheer number of people who buy into what amounts to online "news" sites and other facets of the Must Be True It's On the Internetâ„¢ parade of paranoia desperately vying for attention. Do they not realize they're killing people-- children even? It's so easy to convince people to not drink tap water, or that plastic will give them cancer, and wifi and wind turbines will make them deathly ill. It's pretty sad when Obama getting reelected leads to murder suicides because people actually believe the Affordable Care Act means chaining innocent people up inside of FEMA's box cars and systematically executing them.
So... is there any hope we can start holding people accountable for deliberately spreading false/harmful information any time soon?