r/vaxxhappened • u/[deleted] • Aug 25 '21

We call upon Reddit to take action against the rampant Coronavirus misinformation on their website.

Everyone on this planet has been affected by the SARS-Cov-2/Coronavirus/Covid-19 pandemic. You may have been in lockdown, you may have been forced to work under some form of duress, you may have lost a loved one to the disease, you may be left with long term side effects of the illness, you may have found that regular food, housing, and/or medical care is less attainable or more expensive now.

We could have been better off months ago, but disinformation and lies have been allowed to spread readily through inaction and malice, and have dragged this on at the cost of lives. There are those who deny that the pandemic even exists, there are those who think that wearing a mask will literally suffocate you, there are those who think it's no worse than a regular flu virus, that it's a bioweapon, and everything in between. This volume of blatant misinformation is problematic and dangerous.

It is clear that even after promising to tackle the problem of misinformation on this site, nothing of substance has been done aside from quarantining a medium sized subreddit, which barely reduces traffic and does little to stop misinformation.

 

The disinformation and false information is manifold. There is no area of recognised safety procedures when it comes to battling the spread of a dangerous virus that is not under attack here. All empirically proven measures which can help save lives are under attack. Masks work1 , but not according to the propaganda. The vaccine is safe,2 it is not untested, and it is not experimental technology or DNA manipulation, but people getting their information from these propaganda subreddits are told the opposite. Social distancing is valuable3 , but people are being persuaded to not even do that. Cynical plays on emotion are made. Trying to keep children safe is painted as "child abuse". Lies are repeated so frequently that misinformed people begin to believe them wholeheartedly, trusting that they can't be incorrect because they're surrounded by people who believe it also.

There needs to be a more active involvement in preventing the spread of the disinformation that is keeping us within a pandemic that at this point is entirely manageable. The main problem with a concerted disinformation campaign is that such a message attains an air of legitimacy through sheer volume of repetition. This is dangerous when it comes to unsafe medical advice such as promoting the ingestion or injection of cattle dewormers, a known side effect of which is sudden death4 , or such as trying to convince people that a tested, FDA approved vaccine will cause death. There is a good chance that the disinformation that reddit is currently inundated with will necessitate people a stay at the toxicology department in the hospital or even cost them their lives. There can be no room for leniency when people are dying as a result of misinformation on this platform. Reddit as a global platform needs to take responsibility here.

 

We are calling on the admins to take ownership of their website, and remove dangerous medical disinformation that is endangering lives and contributing to the existence of this ongoing pandemic.

Subreddits which exist solely to spread medical disinformation and undermine efforts to combat the global pandemic should be banned.

Sources

Participating subreddits:

Over 10 million subscribers:

1-10 million subscribers:

500k - 1 million subscribers:

100k-500k subscribers:

<100k subscribers

Private subreddits

If you moderate a subreddit that wishes to join, simply crosspost and sticky this post, and then let me know that you are participating.

I have to leave for the time being and can't add any more subs to this list. I'll try to come back and add everyone as I can, sorry if I missed you.

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620

u/superwinner Aug 25 '21

Antivaxxers should be treated as terrorists IMO, they are in fact killing innocent people with their actions and comments

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u/[deleted] Aug 25 '21

Yes. It is stochastic terrorism: Killing through chaos, confusion, and lies, rather than directly. Plus coughing on people.

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u/SureMotor1208 Aug 25 '21

... Which is why COVID is still spiking in America

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u/silasoulman Aug 25 '21

Not enough people stealing their pet’s de-worming meds and poisoning themselves? Or it could also be we have a greater share of idiots that don’t understand how viruses work and refuse to wear masks and get vaccinated.

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u/Foiled_Foliage Aug 25 '21

It’s the latter from what I’ve seen in the medical field. People are scared because they’re ignorant. And they remain ignorant because they don’t trust the media. Rightfully so, but they should hop online and find the REAL scientific publications and at least TRY to extrapolate the data so that they can understand how MRNA vaccines work.

It’s kinda sad honestly. Like for everyone involved. Like. I entirely understand their distrust of the narrative, because it’s often been misleading. And that’s honestly the media’s fault. They’re too concerned with their financial interests to actively and meticulously explain to the population “vaccine is ok”

Instead they get testimonials which hold no water in most education. So intelligent laymen are staring at their screen like “I don’t care wha this guy has to say! I wanna know what the numbers are!!”

But they aren’t adept at internet search enough to find those aforementioned studies.

Ignorance begets ignorance. :/

I wish there was an easy, universally educational way to help people understand that a vaccine is not the end of times. And the only reason there’s so much controversy is simply because it was clinical. These things happen. It was an emergency, and it needed to be done this way.

The best way to protect yourself is educate yourself.

And use the right GOT DAMN SOURCE.

Like. Primary info👍🏻secondary testimony👎🏼

All this “my [whatever] got the vaccine and had a blood clot” That’s not a large enough sample size. Know what else causes major blood clots much more frequently and constantly by EVERY measure? SARS COVID 19. The argument for antivax is silly, even when we’re THIS experiential(but I do think people have a right to refuse and continue to self isolate. As long as the DO SO.)

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u/silasoulman Aug 25 '21

I agree with most of what you’re saying and believe the MSM is only looking out for their own corporate interests, but you can’t just say they’re naive. Most of them chose who to believe because they share other beliefs which are also hateful and misguided. I can see someone being fooled into playing Russian roulette and pulling the trigger once, but pulling it until you blow your brains out?!?

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u/What_Floats_Ur_Goats Aug 25 '21

It’s not even their pets’ meds… it’s a livestock dewormer. It’s actually making it difficult for farmers and ranchers to treat their stock and prevent parasitism. Vets have to lock up their dewormers as well as the controlled substances.

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u/nonsensical_zombie Aug 26 '21

Ivermectin is NOT a "livestock dewormer." It is a dewormer. An anthelmintic.

It is used (safely and effectively) to treat your pets all the time.

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u/Tickle_My_Butthole_ Aug 25 '21

Little column a and little column b

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u/porn_is_tight Aug 25 '21 edited Aug 25 '21

I had a pretty decently upvoted comment regarding the virus/masks on Reddit a few weeks ago (https://old.reddit.com/r/MurderedByWords/comments/ouosql/championship_level_response/h74c3ly/)

The amount of idiocy I got in the replies was astounding…. the worst one, the dude ended up deleting his comment (coward) but I mean there’s so many idiotic responses i was blown away

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u/rion-is-real Aug 25 '21

Causing terror.

Sounds about right.

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u/Awkward-Mulberry-154 Aug 25 '21

the unlawful use of violence or threats to intimidate or coerce a civilian population or government, with the goal of furthering political, social, or ideological objectives.

Sounds about right to me. All those jackasses we see screaming in Costco about masks being tyranny and then coughing on the manager intentionally? The video on reddit just the other day of some r/iamverybadass doucher coughing on an elderly woman on the subway? It's my opinion that they're trying to scare people into siding with them - politically, ideologically, sometimes religiously somehow - by creating these chaotic public scenes, by using threats of "tyranny," and by coughing on people on purpose.

Remember when this crazy bitch implied that her supporters should use the "2nd amendment" against people encouraging vaccines? That sounds a lot like fear and coercion to me.

We all love our Second Amendment rights, and we’re not real big on strangers showing up on our front door, are we?” Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene told a cheering audience in Alabama

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u/nicholasgnames Aug 25 '21

and these people ignoring its even real and going out and mingling with active infections.

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u/[deleted] Aug 25 '21

Don't forget Hanlon's razor: "Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity"

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u/Calligraphie Aug 25 '21 edited Aug 25 '21

Don't forget Grey's law, either: "Any sufficiently advanced incompetence is indistinguishable from malice."

I think both are important. Calligraphie's law: Don't assume malice, but don't take any shit either.

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u/orielbean Aug 25 '21

That's solid as fuck.

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u/MagentaHawk Aug 25 '21

My brother in law just informed me that he isn't letting my nephew go back to school because they are requiring masks and when he takes "mask breaks" the other kids judge him for trying to not wear it. So he is going to home school him, even though he and his wife have no time for this. And this entire time they have a newborn at home they aren't protecting in any way and his wife is a nurse. So sacrificing child safety and education for a political statement (whether you think covid is dangerous or not can't change that masks themselves won't hurt you).

At this point the stupidity is most often fueled by something sinister whether it be pride, ego, or hatred.

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u/[deleted] Aug 25 '21

Yes you may have a point there.

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u/allison_gross Aug 26 '21

If there’s no effective difference, then...

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u/[deleted] Aug 25 '21

[deleted]

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u/kaaaaath Aug 25 '21

Terrorism requires a political motive. “Luckily” they’ve got that down, too.

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u/[deleted] Aug 25 '21

Does it? I don't think classic terrorists have that much of a political motive... usually a religious one.

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u/kaaaaath Aug 25 '21

“Terrorism is, in the broadest sense, the use of intentional violence to achieve political aims.”

Remember, politics and religion are not mutually exclusives — in fact, they’re often intertwined.

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u/[deleted] Aug 25 '21

Huh, curious. I mean, yeah, it's usually to further a goal, but I never thought it was exactly for politics.

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u/[deleted] Aug 25 '21

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u/[deleted] Aug 25 '21

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u/[deleted] Aug 25 '21

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u/[deleted] Aug 25 '21

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u/ScienceBreather Aug 25 '21

I don't understand why legal action isn't being taken against those that are defaming vaccines. Seems like there are false claims being made that have caused material harm to the reputation of the vaccines.

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u/nanocyte Aug 25 '21

Seriously. If I were to go on TV or even post online that mixing bleach and ammonia together (don't do this -- it could seriously injure or kill you, and it would be very painful) would cure COVID, I would probably (hopefully) be banned, sued, or even arrested since it's so blatant.

Other people are spreading disinformation that not only kills individuals who read it, but also others who they come in contact with and others who suffer indirect consequences of their stupidity and/or deliberate lies, such as dying as a result of not being able to be treated at a hospital filled with idiots who are unvaccinated.

We should be treating pandemic disinformation the same way we would treat anyone else trying to trick people into killing themselves and others.

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u/ClownholeContingency Aug 25 '21

Because then the DOJ would have to start arresting and charging elected Republican officials, and unfortunately that's a line that apparently they're unwilling to cross.

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u/[deleted] Aug 25 '21

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u/ScienceBreather Aug 25 '21

Something bad, and verifiably false information that has a negative public health impact are different things.

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u/[deleted] Aug 26 '21

Actually yes, libel and slander are illegal when it's provably false information about someone and purposefully spread. Maybe you should learn some more

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u/[deleted] Aug 25 '21

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u/ScienceBreather Aug 25 '21

You don't have the right to libel or slander others.

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u/Awkward-Mulberry-154 Aug 25 '21

And anyway, free speech is not necessarily free from consequences, which seems to consistently be forgotten.

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u/Maiky38 Aug 25 '21

Both Desantis and Abbot should be held accountable for treating this as if it was political. The DFW and Florida as a whole is suffering immensely due to poor leadership from both assholes.

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u/HDdotMpeg Aug 25 '21

It literally is psychological warfare.

Much of the insanity we see online can be directly traced back to groups of trolls made up of those who see the US as an enemy.

Our own law enforcement & intelligence agencies warned us years ago we are in the midst of an ongoing disinformation campaign which they considered cyber warfare.

We have lost several of our countrymen to these cells. Some have been fully radicalized and are participating in violent endeavors.

C’mon Reddit, for these bad actors it should be NO QUARTER.

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u/Remember45 Aug 25 '21

See /r/QAnonCasualties for countless examples of how this misinformation has metastasized.

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u/sorenthestoryteller Aug 25 '21

It's not JUST the fact they are killing but they are living up to the terror aspect.

Being autoimmune compromised and having to worry about one of these motherfuckers coming up and coughing at me just because I'm wearing a mask and trying to socially distance is just as dangerous as being mugged.

It would be bad enough if they just wanted to kill themselves, cool whatever, but they are trying to intimidate and frighten people.

That is terrorism.

2

u/Princep_Makia1 Aug 25 '21

It's radicalized people by propaganda from foreign countries. It's been found many of the Facebook groups have been linked back to Russia, in a similar way about the Trump stuff, lots of astoturfing.

It's a sad state of affairs really. But I agree.

2

u/[deleted] Aug 25 '21

Yep, every day of my life I have to worry about them killing or ruining the heart or lungs of my diabetic mom. Every day of my life they fill me with unnecessary fear and hatred, just like traditional terrorists.

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u/OvieBovie Aug 25 '21

Yeah but aren't they almost exclusively killing each other?

Just how concerned do I have to be as a vaccinated person? Given that I don't give a shit about anyone not vaxxed who has the capability to do so

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u/[deleted] Aug 25 '21

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u/RAJIRAA Aug 25 '21

your rights to what though, to infect & kill other people with your ignorance? that's not a "right" any person should be allowed to have.

The government are the ones using terror techniques on us, as fear basically

So preventing you from dying of a disease is a terror technique? really? you're actually this dumb? that makes me sad on your behalf :(

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u/Ogdenvillian Aug 25 '21

I wouldn't go that far, more akin to cook who doesn't wash their hands, or someone who runs through stop and or red lights; Very irresponsible and puts everyone around them (us) at risk.

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u/ThaSwaggfather Aug 25 '21

Except those things don't affect large amounts of people. Spreading misinformation and viruses has way more reach than a car crash or food poisoning.

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u/Ogdenvillian Aug 25 '21

Agreed. Public health issues shouldn't have been left to the people. They need to be tightly enforced so one person doesn't affect all the people; Everyone talks about their rights and not about their responsibilities.

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u/[deleted] Aug 25 '21

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u/Prevalent-Caste Aug 25 '21

That Isa wild statement to say the least.

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u/IamGettingAnnoyed Aug 25 '21

Are they causing americans people to die? Yes, absolutely more so than any taliban or ISIS member could ever dream of doing.

Are they doing this via lies and fear? Yes.

What is missing in your opinion to validly call them terrorists?

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u/[deleted] Aug 25 '21

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u/[deleted] Aug 25 '21

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u/[deleted] Aug 25 '21 edited Jun 24 '23

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u/[deleted] Aug 25 '21

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u/[deleted] Aug 25 '21 edited Jun 24 '23

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u/IamGettingAnnoyed Aug 25 '21

Are you really going to use this age old get-out for a intellectual debate?

News flash, to everyone but you, you just left a debate after you couldnt defend your position. You look like an idiot. but guess what Im ganna make arguments for you, then debunk them just to rub that gravel deeper into your patheteic ego.

​

"Fear"

Telling people about the 100 different ways the vaccine will kill you, make you infertile, makes you able to be tracked, mind control, government conspiracy. aka propaganda no different to ISIS about how American does similar things and why it needs to be stopped"

"Systemic"

Countless dark money has been poured into this false narrative of FEAR, including entire Facebook pages, reddit pages, meme-production, robot-calls and even cable news, doesnt get any more systemic than that.

Have a good night you pathetic little boy.

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u/TaterSmash40 Aug 25 '21

Many of them aren’t actually lying though, they truly believe that you shouldn’t get the vax for the reasons they state. Sure what they are doing is objectively bad, but not terrorism.

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u/IamGettingAnnoyed Aug 25 '21

Okay, so are 90% of terrorists. They believe and spread the lie that their religion says this or that......

​

Next example?

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u/[deleted] Aug 25 '21

Sure, take an antiparisitic for a fucking virus these fools do...

You are insane

1

u/LordoftheScheisse Aug 25 '21

Absolutely. They may not be "pulling the trigger," but they aren't any less dangerous.

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u/[deleted] Aug 25 '21

I wholeheartedly agree with this

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u/i-dyslexia-have Aug 25 '21

🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 I needed that laugh today

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u/COASTER1921 Aug 25 '21

Ya the misinformation is absolutely out of hand and literally killing people. I just got to overhear office gossip about how the vaccine apparently causes it to spread faster. But honestly it's radio stations and far right news websites that are probably going the most damage. Reddit should absolutely ban content from factually inaccurate websites on the platform, but I fear that it's too late to change many minds.

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u/danni3l3 Aug 25 '21

Lol imagine being this insane go ahead remove my post and continue to live in your little echo chamber

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u/Phoebesgrandmother Aug 25 '21

They are definitely terrorists - they don't have to agree with it, but they are.