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GoFundMe will ban anti-vaxxers from using its platform to raise money, in a bid to stop the spread of misinformation about vaccines online.
Key points:
- GoFundMe said it was conducting a review into anti-vaccination campaigns
- The crowdfunding platform said such campaigns were "extremely rare"
- YouTube, Facebook, Instagram and Amazon have all recently taken action against anti-vaxxers
"Campaigns raising money to promote misinformation about vaccines violate GoFundMe's terms of service and we are removing them from the platform," GoFundMe confirmed in a statement to the ABC.
The statement added the crowdfunding platform was conducting a review and removing any existing anti-vaxxer campaigns from its site, but added that they were "extremely rare".
GoFundMe spokesman Bobby Whithorne told the Daily Beast the company had so far found fewer than 10 to remove.
The company's policies state that "products that make health claims that have not been approved or verified" by regulatory bodies are not permitted to use its crowdfunding service.
It remains unknown how much anti-vaccination campaigns raised using GoFundMe before the ban.
The decision from GoFundMe comes after American Medical Association executive vice president and chief executive James Madara sent an open letter to CEOs of leading technology companies, urging them to help remove anti-vaccination messages from the internet this month.
Mr Madara said "vaccine-preventable diseases" were "threatening communities and public health".
"We urge you to do your part to ensure that users have access to scientifically valid information on vaccinations, so they can make informed decisions about their families' health," he wrote.
"We also urge you to make public your plans to ensure that users have access to accurate, timely, scientifically sound information on vaccines."
Mr Madara's letter came after YouTube said it was banning anti-vaccination channels from running online advertisements last month, according to Buzzfeed News.
Facebook followed when it announced plans to crack down on anti-vaccine content.
Instagram, which has already said it will no longer promote anti-vaccine posts on its "explore" and search pages, said it would also block anti-vaccine hashtags last week, days after Mr Madara's letter.
Amazon followed the social media giants, announcing last week that it was pulling books that disseminate anti-vaccination information from its online marketplace.
A report by The Guardian last month found anti-vaccine groups were fundraising through Amazon's charity program, AmazonSmile.
Topics: vaccines-and-immunity, children---preschoolers, education, community-and-society, doctors-and-medical-professionals, australia