Pinterest blocks search results on vaccination – attempt to curb misinformation influencing popular search algorithms

A 2017, Pew Research found that about 67 percent of adults in the U.S. get at least some of their news from social media and the number of young people looking to online video as a news source is rapidly growing. As more people use search and social media to gather critical information impacting their daily lives, the pressure on such companies to take responsibility for information being shared has also grown. This has led to some popular platforms taking drastic steps to control information that can be accessed.

One such recent example is Pinterest banning all results for searches related to vaccination. Social media companies are drawing criticism for not doing more to prevent the spread of misinformation about vaccines. According to a Wall Street Journal report Pinterest described the search ban—which the company hasn’t previously publicly discussed but which went into effect late last year—as a temporary but necessary measure until it can develop better strategies to sift through what it calls “polluted” content. The company made a similar decision last year to block searches for dubious cancer therapies. The aggressive move by Pinterest marks another change in the way large tech companies are trying to handle the responsibility of monitoring the flow of information.

This brings up an interesting debate on how much censorship, if any, should such popular platforms implement and what could be the potential lateral impact on businesses that depend on such platforms for marketing. In this case, if such a ban was expanded beyond Pinterest, and say Facebook or Google decided to ban vaccination related content, a person genuinely looking for information on vaccines may not be able to find accurate information. More over medical companies trying to market legitimate products and procedures might need to change their strategies. Search keywords will need to be re-evaluated if a certain term / phrase if completely banned. This may lead to perfectly sensible and helpful content being blocked and limit the marketing reach of companies using these terms.

Pinterest’s solution to this issue may seem absurd but it’s probably first of many such instances. As pressure on technology companies to be liable for content they host increases, censorship will also rise. This will pose a unique challenge to companies that may have products that could be categorized as ‘controversial’. These companies may need to develop unique digital marketing strategies to navigate around such content bans.