The Costs of Anti-vax Predation
Misinformation peddlers keep living off lies that chew people up, spit them out
The first time the scientific literature touched the attention economy in a significant way involved the original anti-vax conspiracy fraud perpetrated by Andrew Wakefield, a search engine, and a celebrity. For details, see our forthcoming book.
Prowling a decades-long rising tide of misinformation — with RFK, Jr., a main proponent — the predators have feasted on thousands of nameless victims during the anti-vax feeding frenzy, including children who have contracted measles, radicalized adults contracting Covid-19, and various proportions of these dying or suffering needlessly.
But let’s not forget two cases where the anti-vax predators spurred separate and very different tragedies:
- The CDC shooting in August 2025, where the gunman sprayed more than 500 bullets at the organization’s headquarters before taking his own life.
- The possible murder of twin toddlers at the hands of their anti-vax radicalized mother in Utah last year.
Anti-vaccination rhetoric uses the attention economy and Big Tech to hunt down and surround unsuspecting victims, while the pseudoscience remoras have learned to feed as they ride along.
Meanwhile, we continue to allow cyberlibertarian information platforms and their champions spread it . . . and we profit off too much of it.
Far too often, we’re the Mayor of Amity Island, arguing that everything is fine for the sake of keeping businesses flourishing:
But after talking with people at our book signings last week, it’s clear people know there’s blood in the scientific waters.
Given what has transpired the past decade or two, we’re going to need a bigger boat if we’re going to make it safe to swim again . . .
