For the past three years, Amy Haney has administered a private Facebook group for metro Atlanta parents who seek more information about vaccines.
She says her group was created as a forum to provide information to parents from reputable sources, such as the CDC and published research articles.
But with a recent surge in measles cases linked to parents deciding not to vaccinate their children, Facebook and other social media giants are fighting anti-vaccination information on their platforms.
Public health experts view the decision to remove untrue content as a positive move. But the decision to limit or silence content posted by people opposed to vaccines has been met with mixed reviews by others.
“When they start taking out certain ideas, you wonder how long it is before these corporations control what you do,” said Jared Schroeder, a professor at Southern Methodist University who focuses on freedom of speech online.
Chris Herbert is a freelance journalist and graduate student at the University of Georgia. Click here to see his full post on Georgia Health News.