As The White House (And Others) Blame Facebook For COVID Vaccination Rates, Health Officials Are Blaming Fox News
from the the-real-problem dept
Over the last few weeks there's been a weird, wasteful, and just silly dispute in which the White House has tried to blame Facebook (and misinformation on Facebook) for not enough people agreeing to get vaccinated against COVID-19 (in light of cases ramping up again). Things have gotten so stupid that two Senators have released a terribly unconstitutional bill attempting to hold Facebook liable for "health misinformation" on its platform.
But... is Facebook actually to blame? Mark Zuckerberg (who, um, is obviously not an unbiased party) made a completely valid point in response to all of this: Facebook is available around the globe, yet much of the rest of the world is not seeing the same levels of vaccine hesitancy (indeed, the problem elsewhere tends to be a lack of supply), and that might raise questions as to why Facebook is facing the blame for vaccine hesitancy.
"..if one country is not reaching its vaccine goal, but other countries that all these same social media tools are in are doing just fine.. should lead you to conclude that.. platforms are not the decisive element.."
Of course, there's more to it than that, but what strikes me as most notable is that actual health experts in places where there are high levels of vaccine hesitancy don't seem to think that Facebook is the problem. They seem to recognize that it's actually a Fox News problem. In an article talking with health officials in states like Alabama and Louisiana, where vaccine hesitancy is the highest, they're saying the real problem remains Fox News.
Doctors and health officials in Alabama and Louisiana say their only hope for getting people vaccinated is if the media outlets that message to these areas, primarily Fox News, start advocating people get the shot, instead of pushing them away from the jab.
“I have people come up to me and say, ‘Why on CNN? Couldn’t you go on Fox?’ They are still very angry over the last couple of years. There’s an irritation. They are super frustrated. They need to hear it from the people that they trust. They need to hear it from where they get their news every day. And I don’t know why not Fox. Why not?,” O’Neal said. “But it has to change this week. Every single show. And it has to be about the community, not the ‘you’ because there’s been too much about the ‘you.’ ‘You’ they got indoctrinated. It is not about ‘you,’ it is about the community. You’re going to kill your community.”
Others have been making this point as well.
But despite the enormous reach of Facebook, only one media outlet has devoted itself to injecting falsehoods about the pandemic into the nervous systems of its audience on a 24/7 basis. That, of course, would be Fox News, the right-wing cable station that tells its viewers, over and over, that vaccines are dangerous and that wearing a mask to prevent COVID-19 is ineffective — and, in any case, is not worth the price we’d pay in giving up our freedom.
None of this should be surprising. For years now we've been pointing people to the detailed, data-driven research findings of Yochai Benkler, Robert Faris, and Hal Roberts in their book, Network Propaganda, which traced the actual flow of mis- and disinformation regarding the 2016 Presidential election, and found that the main vector (by far) was not Facebook, but Fox News. Yes, things would spread on Facebook eventually, but only after Fox News would make it into a story. A later study they did regarding disinformation about mail-in ballots found the same thing.
That's not to say that mis- and disinformation don't travel on Facebook. Clearly it happens all the time. But focusing on social media, as if it's the primary culprit, or that somehow getting Facebook to delete the propagandists on that platform will magically solve all disinformation is clearly folly. Of course, you won't see Senators Amy Klobuchar and Ben Ray Lujan introducing bills to make Fox News liable for the health misinformation they spew -- they at least recognize that that would not only be blatantly unconstitutional, but would be interpreted as an attack on conservatives' favorite TV news channel.
Mis- and disinformation remain a real problem, but kneejerk attempts to blame social media are not helping and not getting at any of the root causes of the credibility crisis currently facing people throughout the US.
Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.
Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.
While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.
–The Techdirt Team
Filed Under: 1st amendment, blame, cable news, covid, fox news, health misinformation, health officials, social media, vaccines
Companies: fox news
Reader Comments
Subscribe: RSS
View by: Time | Thread
What I fear…
Here's what I'm afraid of:
Let's say that every single show on Fox were to encourage their viewers to become vaccinated (Sean Hannity and Steve Doocy already have). What would be the most likely outcome? I would say that their viewers would leave Fox and join NewsMax or OANN.
(To be honest, I really hope I'm wrong, but considering what happened at the 2020 election when Fox News called the election for Biden, many of their viewers left Fox and watched NewsMax and OANN instead, depending on which network's lies comforted them the most)
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Tucker Carlson should understand this now, considering how wonderfully he was trolled in Montana recently...
https://youtu.be/6bzGGzkCpI0
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Of course, you won't see Senators Amy Klobuchar and Ben Ray Lujan introducing bills to make Fox News liable for the health misinformation they spew -- they at least recognize that that would not only be blatantly unconstitutional, but would be interpreted as an attack on conservatives' favorite TV news channel.
Both are blatantly unconstitutional but at least going after Fox would be going after a direct source if misinformation rather than telling the target 'do our work for us and take down what we tell you to', so I'd say the refusal to go after Fox has little to nothing to do with the constitutional status of the bills(they've already shown they don't care about that) and everything to do with optics.
Currently tech companies are the punching bags for both parties which makes them a safe target whereas if they tried to go after Fox that would cost them and get them pushback, and if(as I suspect is the case unless they are really stupid) this is nothing more than a dishonest PR stunt why go after a risky target when there's a safe one available?
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re:
Telling someone they're a terrible person counts as 'trolling' now? Okay then.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
"Falsehoods?"
It bugs me when articles like this refer to "falsehoods".
You're sugar coating it and taking away the impact of calling it what it is. Lies.
Not falsehoods.
Why is everyone so afraid of calling a spade a spade here?
"That's a lie." There. See how easy it was.
Falsehoods indeed. Peh.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
How about unauthorized-practice-of-medicine laws?
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: "Falsehoods?"
If you intentionally tell a false statement with the intent to decieve, it's a lie.
If you tell a false statement with reckless disregard to whether it's true or false, it's bullshit.
If you repeat a lie or bullshit repeated above whilst believing it was true, it's a falsehood.
The US Right Wing trafficks in all three so much it's best to label them all "falsehoods".
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: What I fear…
what I would love to see?
Is a list of those in FOX, that have had the shots.
Then I would love for another Corp, to buy advert time, and POST it on FOX.
Or at least the LOCAL broadcast FOX channels.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: Re: What I fear…
FORGET IT..
Just buy advert time, and POST a FAKE list of all those in FOX that have had shots.
Let them debate with the people about that.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
The unvaccinated are not causing the virus to mutate. Viruses mutate, that’s what the do. If the whole world were vaccinated, and the vaccine were 100% effective (both of which are impossible because: mankind), there would still be viral mutations. Booster shots would still be required, and extensive testing before administering these boosters; all of which would take time. During said time, guess what the virus would be doing????: Mutating. Instead of being mad at the people who chose not to take this particular vaccine, the vaccinated (who are also experiencing increased infection rates post vaccination) should be mad at the fact that they were told that the vaccines were highly effective at Preventing Infection. Now the vaccinated are being told that the vaccine only reduces symptoms post infection. What?!?!?!
How many people who signed up for the vaccine took comfort in the fact that they could still get infected with COVID, or even die from the vaccine itself? We’re not being told the whole numbers.
Unfortunately, baring a miraculous end to this virus, there will be more infections and deaths of both the vaccinated and unvaccinated.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re:
Nearly all COVID deaths in US are now among unvaccinated
[ link to this | view in thread ]
They’re giving the virus what it needs to mutate: fresh victims and time. And they’re doing that out of sociopathic selfishness. Is wearing a mask when going to Walmart really worse than having a breathing tube shoved down one’s throat?
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Yep
Hating smokers makes them stop smoking
Hating Klansmen makes them stop being bigots
Hating homosexuals makes them stop being homosexual
Hating child abusers makes them stop abusing kids
Hating prostitutes makes them stop prostituting
Yep, hating the antivaxxers and/or those who chose to skip this particular vaccine…that’ll fix ‘em
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: Yep
Aside from your extremely flawed premise, what's wrong with gay people and sex workers?
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: Yep
good thing no one ever proposed that as a solution then
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re:
All a virus needs in order to replicate is a compromised immune system and a bacterial cell to inject. Unfortunately, these 2 are found in the vaxxed and the unvaxxed.
Viruses mutate regardless of the potential host’s vaccine state.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: Re: Yep
Have you hugged an antivaxxer today?
Have you told an antivaxxer that you love them today?
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: Re:
And which system do you think is more friendly to a virus' ability to stick around long enough to mutate and spread, one that's been primed to kill it in short order thanks to vaccination or one that's struggling to develop those countermeasures after the infection has already taken root?
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re:
Yes, given time - which the unvaccinated have amply provided.
Yes, but if everyone is vaccinated they usually have some protection against a new strain which means the R-value for the virus would be very low - ie it would hardly spread.
No one has said that the vaccine prevents infection, it protects. The increased infections (aka breakthrough cases) rates among vaccinated people are vanishingly small (0.003% of 161 million vaccinated) compared to what is currently happening to the unvaccinated. Trying to equate the two only tells me that you either don't know what you are talking about or is just being dishonest.
No, they where told that from the beginning - that stupid people choose not to listen or misrepresent what was said is the telltale of idiots or liars.
It has been explained from the beginning that vaccines never prevent infections, it just protects and lessens the symptom incase of an infection. That people like you are obtuse doesn't change that fact. And the number of deaths from taking the vaccines? There is a casual link for the J&J vaccine causing blood-clots, and the amount of people that may have died from it is <0.0004% (of 7.98 million vaccinated).
Mostly by the unvaccinated, who also functions as virus-mutating factories which will lead to new strains causing more breakthrough cases among the vaccinated.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: Re: Re: Yep
Why would a sane person hug a reality challenged virus-mutating factory?
[ link to this | view in thread ]
I’d prefer not to become a vector for a deadly disease, thanks.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Lies, bullshit, falsehoods and
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re:
“The unvaccinated are not causing the virus to mutate.”
I hope you tell that to a microbiologist or an infectious disease specialist so they can laugh so hard they almost pass out.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: Yep
We don’t hate you. We understand however, you are an idiot who is putting other people in danger. If you don’t like being scorned, might I suggest stop being a fuckwit.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: Re: Re: Yeah nah bra
I have a strict policy of keeping you plaguerats at more than a baseball bats distance.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re:
The shades of Smallpox says that you are wrong.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: Re: Yep
Yep, “we don’t hate you but…” [the name calling].
Yep, you’ve convinced me now! You just saved my life! Where do I sign up?
Not.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: Re: Re:
Those unvaxxed, who were also previously infected, already have the same antibodies onboard that are provided via vaccination, yet they should still get vaccinated? No.
Anyone who says that no one was informed that the vaccine would provide protection from infection is just plain lying. What do you think the ‘efficacy rate’ defines, if not the rate of infection and/or transmission.
In the end, either we DO have the freedom to say yes/no to any medication, or we DON’T.
Meanwhile, the virus is still mutating and infecting the vaxxed, the vexed, and the unvaxxed.
I don’t know everything, and I could be completely wrong about absolutely all of my points…but I doubt it. Anyway, it’s good to be surrounded by so many omniscient gods who know how to destroy such a novel (not to you all, of course) virus.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: Re: Re: Re: Yeah nah bra
Please, they're not plague rats;
They're plague gerbils.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: Re:
Remember how Dick Cheney had the 1% doctrine? These chaotiferous anti-vaxxers are even more extreme that they have the 0.0004% doctrine, and they think that's more risky than 2% or 3% (of unvaccinated people who died of COVID, that is).
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: Lies, bullshit, falsehoods and
but “trust the science”…
Just like we trust cigarette scientists
Just like we trust Coca Cola scientists
Just like we trust the Nazi scientists
The scientists that developed these vaccines were paid to do so (as they should have been for their work), but there’s “lies, damned lies, and statistics”. I know for a fact that stats can be skewed to show desired results. Heck, most people don’t even know the difference between mean and median.
If scientists were always correct, there would be no hypotheses, only laws; no need for experimentation when your hypothesis is already correct…because you already know everything. I’ll trust God as I cheer scientists that unwittingly continue to discover how HE does things.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: What I fear…
Per Wikipedia, Fox News is available to 114,848,000 households, which is approximately a hundred million more than Newsmax. (OANN's numbers are not listed.) While I'm sure Fox viewers leaving for Newsmax and OANN is some concern, those networks simply don't have anything remotely approaching its market penetration or name recognition.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: Re: What I fear…
Thank you, that is some comfort. Still, the internet exists. Then again, broadband is indeed hobbled (which is also a priority; just ask Karl Bode)…
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Hello, Mr. Dunning-Krueger.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: Re: Lies, bullshit, falsehoods and
Sound like you should hang out with Stephen Harmon, who famously said...“got 99 problems but a vax ain’t one.”.
34 years old and hanging out with Darwin. Died from Coronavirus.
Brilliant!
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: Re: Re: Re:
That's why there exist anti-body tests, if you have a low immune response to COVID you should get vaccinated.
You did that, having trouble keeping track of what you said earlier eh?
I can confirm that you are completely wrong.
Uhm, it seems we just destroyed your false and dishonest arguments.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: Re: Re: Yep
Your fragile ego is hardly a concern here. Though I do like how you put science deniers in the same category as holocaust deniers and child abusers. On that single point we agree.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: Re: Lies, bullshit, falsehoods and god
God wants you to not get sick. That’s why he made the vaccine.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: Re: Lies, bullshit, falsehoods and
Oh, you are one of those deluded fools. The difference between you and scientists is that scientists are looking for the truth while you "know" the truth, and scientists re-defines what the truth is when they discover new things - you on the other hand deny reality that doesn't conform to your "truth" with the hand-waving of "it's gods will" or "burn the heretic at the stake!".
[ link to this | view in thread ]
This neo McCarthyism and vaccination segregation is an interesting page and world history. I hope most of us live to see how it all turns out.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Practically the same thing really
Ah yes, ostracizing people because they were accused of belonging to a particular political ideology is definitely equivalent to telling plague rats(or gerbils apparently) that if they want to be around other people they'll need to take the most minor of steps to reduce the risk they pose to everyone around them by getting stabbed by a needle twice.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
THE MISINFORMATION IS COMING FROM INSIDE THE HOUSE!!!!! and the SENATE.
I heart movie quotes.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: Yep
You've forgotten one important factor: The first five members of your list are not out to kill you, or at a minimum, make you sick for a long period, perhaps for the rest of your life. Can't claim that for number six on the list.
We don't necessarily hate them, we're just upset that the rest of us had to work for our scholastic achievements, and yet we have to put up with poster children for No Child Left Behind, still whining after all these years.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: Practically the same thing really
Ah yes, because it’s only a needle that’s going into their arms.
The goal posts have been moved, and some have no problem with it. The purpose of a vaccine is to Prevent Infection not alleviate symptoms.
When is your book coming out, since you (and your cohorts) know everything there is to possibly know about this Novel Coronavirus, vaccines, efficacy rates, side effects, mortality rates vs. infection rates, etc.?
None of us knows everything about this virus, thus scientists and doctors are still studying it. In the meantime, people still have the right to think for themselves and decide if taking the vaccine is the right thing to do for their own health.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: Re: Re: Lies, bullshit, falsehoods and
Science is merely the study of God’s creation. There’s nothing at all wrong with science. The problem is, man is too proud to say those 3 words: “I don’t know”. Hence, some off the wall theories, like Darwin’s, are accepted (by some) as truth.
The next time a scientist tells you she/he created something, ask them what we’re their raw materials. Man can not create; man can only Build from the raw materials that God had already Created from nothing.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: Re: Re: Re: Lies, bullshit, falsehoods and
Prove that god exists.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: Re: Practically the same thing really
Ah yes, because it’s only a needle that’s going into their arms.
Well of course I left out the microchips and the mark of the beast the vaccine also includes, I mean who doesn't know about those at this point?
The goal posts have been moved, and some have no problem with it. The purpose of a vaccine is to Prevent Infection not alleviate symptoms.
Yeah, if you think that's 'moving the goal posts' it's only because you were grossly misinformed about vaccines, reducing infection rates has always been the primary point of vaccines. Cutting down on the spread and severity of diseases are why we have vaccines in the first place and as history shows they've been really good at that.
When is your book coming out, since you (and your cohorts) know everything there is to possibly know about this Novel Coronavirus, vaccines, efficacy rates, side effects, mortality rates vs. infection rates, etc.?
None of us knows everything about this virus, thus scientists and doctors are still studying it.
That's not how it works. The fact that scientists and medical experts don't know everything about a particular subject does not mean they don't know anything and when it comes to diseases and how best to combat them they've got a lot of experience and knowledge to pull from, certainly a hell of a lot more than the nurgle cultists decrying vaccines.
In the meantime, people still have the right to think for themselves and decide if taking the vaccine is the right thing to do for their own health.
And less selfish and ignorant people have the right to tell you that you're not welcome near them until you take the most basic steps to safeguard their wellbeing by getting vaccinated.
Whether vaccination or other acts you have a right to be stupid, what you don't have is a right to put other people's health and lives at risk against their wishes thanks to your stupidity.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: Re: Practically the same thing really
The goal posts hasn't been moved, it's just that people like you doesn't seem to understand that science actually progress. The main purpose of a vaccine is to confer a protection against contracting a disease, this protection is never 100% so there is always a slight chance of getting infected. A study in 2015 found that people who got infected with A/H3N2 (influenza) even though they where vaccinated had reduced symptom severity, which when translated to SARS/Cov2 means that people who are vaccinated and still get infected may not necessarily need to seek medical help.
That you can't take the time to understand and learn about something and make stupid arguments is wholly on you.
No one knows everything about the corona-virus, but evidently you know less than the average person here.
So everyone who can "think for themselves" think they know better than the available medical expertise? Because the medical expertise says "take the damn vaccine!".
Fucking plague-bearer.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: Re: Re: Re: Lies, bullshit, falsehoods and
Which god are you referring to? Marduk? Ahura Mazda? An, Enlil, Enki, and Ninhursanga? Geb & Nut? There are so many, and they all have conflicting versions on how the Earth was created, and funnily enough they don't really talk about the universe.
You have substituted "I don't know, I want to find out" with "I rather believe in millennia old fairy-tales written by goat herders than learn something new."
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Bets on whether we got here the same pathological liar that shitted up this thread:
https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20191026/23243243268/content-moderation-scale-remains-impo ssible-vaccines-edition.shtml
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: Re: Re: Re: Lies, bullshit, falsehoods are next to godliness
“Hence, some off the wall theories, like Darwin’s, are accepted (by some) as truth.”
There’s as much proof for the theory of evolution than there is for atomic theory. So are you a reactor denier as well?
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re:
Ironically you’ll have a better chance of that if you get vaccinated.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: Re: Practically the same thing really
You are a whiny little bitch when people see through your bullshit aren’t you.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: Re: Re: Re:
"I don’t know everything, and I could be completely wrong about absolutely all of my points…but I doubt it. Anyway, it’s good to be surrounded by so many omniscient gods who know how to destroy such a novel (not to you all, of course) virus."
Shall I follow and share the advice of doctors and scientists, or a go with a self-doubting anonymous rando on the internet. Gee, tough choice...
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: Re: Re: Re:
"I don’t know everything, and I could be completely wrong about absolutely all of my points…"
"I have no idea what I'm talking about, but I'll go on the internet and shout at random people about how doctors are wrong about their profession"
Hmmm...
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: Re: Re: Re: Lies, bullshit, falsehoods and
"Science is merely the study of God’s creation"
Well, thanks for admitting that God created COVID, I suppose... I'm not sure why you think we should worship that psychopath, but at least you admit his wrongdoings.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
"For years now we've been pointing people to the detailed, data-driven research findings of Yochai Benkler, Robert Faris, and Hal Roberts in their book, Network Propaganda, which traced the actual flow of mis- and disinformation regarding the 2016 Presidential election, and found that the main vector (by far) was not Facebook, but Fox News. Yes, things would spread on Facebook eventually, but only after Fox News would make it into a story. A later study they did regarding disinformation about mail-in ballots found the same thing."
If only these conclusions were constantly referred to not only for health disinformation but also for other areas, including international politics, war, CIA/NSA commenters etc - people would be more resilient to this cheap propaganda.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: Yep
Lumping sex workers and gays in with child abusers and Klansmen, that's a new way of admitting to being a POS.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re:
History isn't going to be any kinder to antivaxxers than the disease itself.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: Re: Yep
Well, it's sadly not new, but I appreciate him announcing that he should be ignored up front.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Fox News is still pushing the "COVID is a hoax, no-one died under Trump" rhetoric.
They're also pushing via slightly sneakier messages that there should be "a revolution" to reinstate trump by force in August.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
"They trust Fox..."
Well, there's your problem.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: Re: Yep
Sex work is run by organized crime, destroys families, causes child sex trafficking, and would be rape without the money, the need for which in the first place is caused by unabridged capitalism.
Let's make sex work legal under the condition that anyone who does it can't use a pseudonym. Any problem with that rule is an admission of a problem with sex work.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re:
"The unvaccinated are not causing the virus to mutate."
Yes they are,m for the reason given below.
"Viruses mutate, that’s what the do."
Viruses can't mutate outside of their lifecycle. Meaning that the only places a virus mutates is within a host. The more hosts exist, the faster the rate of mutation because the more virii exist who can mutate viably.
Your argument is like saying that roads don't have any bearing on car traffic.
"the vaccinated (who are also experiencing increased infection rates post vaccination)"
They aren't. US hospitals have already found that none of the people hospitalized recently have had both shots. Same with undertakers. Meaning that everyone getting ill enough to end up in hospital or morgue is unvaccinated.
If you want to be a plague rat then all I can advocate is that you stay away from everyone else rather than playing Typhoid Mary.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: Re: Practically the same thing really
"...thus scientists and doctors are still studying it."
Proven theory; Vaccines help.
Proven theory; Amount of help vaccines provide.
Proven theory; Vaccines help with deviant strains of virus.
Unproven hypothesis; How much current vaccines help against new strains.
Yeah, doctors and scientists are still studying the full extent of the protection offered. That the vaccine protects a lot is not in question.
"In the meantime, people still have the right to think for themselves and decide if taking the vaccine is the right thing to do for their own health."
People have the right to be all sorts of malicious assholes. It's just that if you insist on jeopardizing not only yourself but everyone else then we are equally free to disdain you for the disease-spreading plague rat you unbelievably aspire to be.
Only in america does this sort of twisted mindset exist.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: Re: Re: Re:
Nah, you sound like you did your proper research. So, I'm gonna go with some rando's opinion rather than what the experts say. Thanks for making my decision so easy!
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: Re: Re: Re:
Except of course they were NOT being told that, only the Antivax Nutters pulled that out of their asses to claim they needed no vaccination cause they could not infect the vaccinated.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: Re: Re: Yep
Have fun in the hospital!
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: Re: Lies, bullshit, falsehoods and
Of course you trust the one guy releasing a plague on mankind. Why wouldn't you?
[ link to this | view in thread ]
In my experience, people who tout “being a free thinker” as a major personality trait are the kind of people who end up sucked into cults, wrapped up in conspiracy theories, and scammed out of their money. You’re not a “free thinker” or else you’d pay attention to the scientists instead of some nutter on YouTube who found one document out of a million that confirmed their biases and made a video about it titled “PROOF THE GOVERNMENT IS TRYING TO MAKE YOU BILL GATES’ 5G BITCH”.
Being a free thinker means confronting, and possibly accepting, facts that discomfort your biases and change your worldview. Being a dumbass means looking only for those “facts” that comfort your biases and confirm your worldview. If you’re already predisposed to distrusting the government, you’re going to be susceptible to believing anyone who tells you the government is evil to the core in every way—including its public health arm. Once they’ve got their hooks in you, you’re going to be “open-minded” enough to their bullshit that you’ll never question it.
Look for the facts that challenge you and make you uncomfortable. Question the facts that validate your biases, but don’t dismiss them only because they do so. And for fuck’s sake, stop giving undue deference to the people who only ever confirm your worldview; they will never challenge you.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: Re: Practically the same thing really
So, how do you expect to reach proper conclusions when you thinking is based on grossly false information? I'd actually have no problems with clueless idiots like yo dying out in Darwinian fashion cause they misjudged the potential harmful effects compared to Corona's actual effects. If only you wouldn't spread it in the time before you finally kick it.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: Re: Re: Re: Lies, bullshit, falsehoods and
Aren't you loonies always claiming something CAN'T come from nothing?
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re:
Ironically, a lot of people who "think for themselves" and "do their own research" get suckered into having someone else think for them because they have decided that "mainstream" implies faked or biased. That can be the case, but sometimes the person lying to you for profit is the guy feeding you the alternative news.
People who actually think for themselves and do research often end up agreeing with the mainstream, because it's literally true. Not always the case, of course, but if you ever find yourself in a situation where accredited experts are in almost total agreement but a bunch of folks with memes and "just asking questions" YouTube videos are telling you something that sounds nicer to you, chances are the latter are simply making a nice cut from being "controversial".
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: Re: Re: Yep
OK, so I do hate you people. You're stupid as all fuck and as a result we've got Covid 2.0. So thanks, asshole.
It isn't as if you want me to convince you of anything. Your mind is made up, so as far as I'm concerned, feel free to fuck off and die.
Signed,
A vaccinated person who doesn't think your life is worth it
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: Re: Re: Re: Lies, bullshit, falsehoods and
Science is merely the study of God’s creation. The problem is, man is too proud to say those 3 words: “I don’t know”. Hence, some off the wall theories, like Darwin’s, are accepted (by some) as truth.
Hence, some off the wall theories, like the existence of God to explain what isn't known, are accepted (by some) as truth.
FTFY
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: Re: Lies, bullshit, falsehoods and
I’ll trust God as I cheer scientists that unwittingly continue to discover how HE does things.
Me too! I'm going to trust god as well that he's 'telling' you people who are reluctant to get the vaccine in an attempt to 'cull the herd' of you dumb fucks. I'll tell you, if this second wave of Covid takes the lion's share of you fools out, I might think god actually exists and actually listened to me.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
promising
https://newatlas.com/health-wellbeing/coronavirus-antiviral-pill-treat-covid19-at-home/
Now I could get behind something like this...if the side effects aren't too crazy.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Yawn... oh look it's the big Fox boogie man again
Yeah I'm sure Fox news is responsible for the largest group of unvaccinated individuals in the country..... minorities. Kinda hard to blame Fox news for blacks being hesitant about vaccination.
Might wanna look elsewhere on this one bud.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re:
Walking up to someone like that and screaming at them is ridiculously childish. Grow up. Carlson didn't look like the loser in that situation.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: Re:
I agree - I mean even Carlson (via his attorneys) argued in court that no reasonable person would take what he says seriously. He's just an asshole grifting off stupid people.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: Yawn... oh look it's the big Fox boogie man again
It's not that simple. I'll open with https://www.bloomberg.com/graphics/covid-vaccine-tracker-global-distribution/us-vaccine-demographics .html
Your call?
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: Re:
Perhaps it's just dyslexia, every time they say they're free-thinking when they prove they're thinking-free?
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: Re:
The smallpox vaccine was mandatory in many areas, optional (or "mandatory" with exceptions available) in some, and apparently hardly used in Australia and New Zealand (who relied on... distancing and quarantines). It was about 95% effective, same as COVID vaccines.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Lies, bullshit, falsehoods are next to godli
You really can't bring logic into a discussion about religion. Whatever happens (even atomic reactions), one can always say "a wizard did it."
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: Re: Re: Practically the same thing really
Let's not forget this proven theory:
the more a virus spreads, the more it mutates
I.e., even though vaccines can't protect against every possible mutation, sufficient vaccination can prevent these more dangerous variants from coming into existence or spreading.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Finally
I wonder what the US vaccination rate would be had Trump been re-elected...
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: Yawn... oh look it's the big Fox boogie man again
I can’t decide if your racist, stupid, or both.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: Re:
I don't know what video you saw, but the guy confronting Fucker Carlson was calm, collected, and in no way screaming at him.
And if you don't believe me, watch this un-edited version of that same encounter (without the stupid voiceover):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SbVIrOur23g
Now tell me how he was screaming?
Love how you Fox fans have to push the truth to be something completely different that what reality is.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: Re: Re: Yep
Says-*checks notes*-"Anonymous Coward".
Okay.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: Finally
No one would know...
Trump would claim no one died & anyone claiming to have lost loved ones was a paid crisis actor just trying to make him look bad.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: Re:
Tucker’s not gonna let you touch it.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: Re: Re: Yep
“Any problem with that rule is an admission of a problem with sex work.”
So who do you fuck for money?
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: Re: Re: Yep
'Anonymity is bad' said the anonymous person is a self-own that just never gets old.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: Re: Finally
100%
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Here in Australia, we also have a shitshow of a vaccine rollout. The biggest issue has been the constant trashing of the AstraZeneca vaccine - and this trashing has been coming from multiple different places.
This article provides some valuable insight. https://www.crikey.com.au/2021/07/23/trashing-astrazeneca-national-sport-not-national-saviour/
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: Re:
"Viruses mutate regardless of the potential host’s vaccine state."
Much like a gun is usable as a weapon with or without bullets, yes. A vaccinated person has a viable immune response to the virus, ergo the virus won't prosper, multiply, spread, or, yes, mutate well.
You are actually at the point of trying to tell people the Polio and Measles vaccine success was myth. That's historical revisionism on the order of trying to defend the USSR "worker's paradise" or trying to debunk the phenomenon of american slavery.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: Re: Re: Re:
"I don’t know everything, and I could be completely wrong about absolutely all of my points..."
Coming from someone with an actual college degree in biology, yes. You are wrong on every point so far.
"Those unvaxxed, who were also previously infected, already have the same antibodies onboard that are provided via vaccination, yet they should still get vaccinated? No."
They really should. Antibody generation is an iterative process and the immune system prioritizes their generation based on exposure. Hence why, to make sure the effect is long-lasting, you usually get two shots, with an interim period between. It's to inform the body "Yes, this isn't a one-off risk, you will see more of this".
"...either we DO have the freedom to say yes/no to any medication, or we DON’T."
Feel free, but the opposite also holds true; The public should not have to accept in it's midst, lethal dangers and plague rats. If your kid comes down with lice or a cold then the school sends that kid home so the rest don't end up infected. If you've been in a plague area then authorities will see you quarantined on reentry to the country.
And if you are so bereft of the concept of personal responsibility you have to posit these questions and forgot to read the Bill of Rights where your responsibility as a person are outlined, then feel free to move to a nation which doesn't have the assumption that every citizen does their part written right into the natiuonal god damn charter.
Or, you know, stay where you are and accept that you may be quarantined and sidelined until you choose to not be a bloody danger to other people.
"...it’s good to be surrounded by so many omniscient gods..."
If by that you mean "basically educated" or "experts in this damn field" then that only means you may want to start listening to them. The fact that the "anti-vax" community was started by an unscrupulous grifter who was trying to peddle "legal representation" as a sideline to "vaccine victims" in a study where he was shown to himself have fudged the numbers...honestly, Barnum would be proud of all the gullible morons who have fallen for this hook, line and sinker...
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: Re: Re: Re: Re:
"Shall I follow and share the advice of doctors and scientists, or a go with a self-doubting anonymous rando on the internet. Gee, tough choice..."
Yeah, this is how conspiracy nuts function. At some point their narrative turns the whole world into an enemy and every expert into a malicious stooge of whatever sinister group is running the NWO...
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: Re: Re: Yep
"Any problem with that rule is an admission of a problem with sex work."
It's not, really. It's an admission that other people than the sex worker has enough of a problem with sex work so as to ostracize the sex worker.
As some have already pointed out, feel free to reiterate your argument under your own name. Or are you in similar vein admitting that your argument is so massively flawed you don't dare to fly it under your own name?
The lack of self-awareness of you jokers...
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: Re: Yawn... oh look it's the big Fox boogie man again
True to form for the alt-right he's both...and using the fact that the Tuskagee experiment made black people mistrust white doctors as a slur against black people.
It's just the racist way of first making sure a minority had a grievance so they could later also blame the "mistrust" that minority ended up having against authority for subsequent ostracism.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: Re: Yawn... oh look it's the big Fox boogie man again
Oh look let's call someone racist since we have no retort.
Try again. The more you use the term the less it means, so keep it up since you obviously don't care about racism at all.
That deserves another yawn.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: Re: Re: Yawn... oh look it's the big Fox boogie man again
"and using the fact that the Tuskagee experiment made black people mistrust white doctors as a slur against black people."
So exactly how is that Fox news fault again? Are you just slow or do you have a bit of dyslexia? You need to work on your reading comprehension bud.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: Re: Re:
Yeah such a cool guy.... i don't really watch tucker but from a neutral viewpoint walking up to someone and filming yourself telling someone he's garbage for internet points is pretty cringe.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: Re: Re:
Stop projecting. We all know you were salivating at that video wishing you were that close to him in real life.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: Re: Re: Yawn... oh look it's the big Fox boogie man again
Facts don't care about your feelings, snowflake.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: Re: Re: Re: Yawn... oh look it's the big Fox boogie man agai
What facts?
All I see are children throwing around big words they don't understand.
I think you should stop commenting since you're obviously racist, misogynistic, homophobe, transphobe, bigot, neo-nazi, kkk member, white supremacist ist ist phobe phobe.
Boy this is great! I won the argument. Would you like to have some adult discourse or continue being a fool?
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: Re: Re: Re:
Well you tried... sort of.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Yawn... oh look it's the big Fox boogie man
'Would you like to have some adult discourse or continue being a fool?
Speaking of projection. This ones a doozy.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Yawn... oh look it's the big Fox boogie man
The deranged rant in your sentence immediately followong proves you must be looking in a mirror.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: Re: Re: Yep
Nice try, John Smith.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: Re: Re: Re:
Look, there are platforms for your to post your fanfiction. This isn't one of them.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re:
"Big Tech" should grow a pair and push back, too.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: Re:
Agreed, it is well past time for them to stop meekly just taking the blows and start pushing back hard when politicians and others lie about them, though it's possible that they're doing so because they know that as annoying as the accusation and resulting 'reforms' aimed their way might be for them those efforts stand to be absolutely devastating to their competitors, such that they might consider it a worthwhile cost to take a few hits in the short-term for long-term gains.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re:
Would Sky News be one of them, as YouTube is fighting back.
[ link to this | view in thread ]