Russian Trolls Used Vaccine Debate to Sow Discord, Study Finds

Debate? What debate? There is no debate. Vaccines prevent illness and death.

It continues to astound me that many NYT readers choose to believe scientific evidence regarding global warming but then to ignore an even greater consensus of scientists regarding the safety of vaccines.

I am absolutely stunned. This article is about Russian trolls sowing discord. And how do at least 2/3 of the commenters react? Bu sowing more discord! Does no one care that the Russians are trying to turn us against each other? It seems that some of us are so addicted to hate and the accompanying adrenaline rush, that we can’t read anything and respond sensibly. The Russians are winning.

Social media, search engines, blogs, ads - there are so many ways the web can be used for rabble rousing. And when making a profit dominates those who might address these ills, their cure is out of reach.

Judging from the viscerally held, black and white responses to the vaccine issue, Russians picked a prime topic for sowing discord. Even the allegedly "above-average-intelligence" subscribers to the august NYT are easy bait for an up or down argument regarding vaccines and are in no mood for nuance or thoughtful commentary. For example, the leading comment by MB claims "There is no debate, only misinformation that seeks to obscure the science on vaccine effectiveness." Not much room for discussion here even though critics of mandatory vaccines for infants and young children seldom if ever doubt "vaccine effectiveness." MB has taken an adversarial position against an adversary that does not exist ... and other readers have given MB their resounding approval. The doubts about vaccines have more to do with their potential for harm. Critics agree the potential harm could fall to a statistically small number of children. However, for those children and those families the potential harm is life-altering. Infants are routinely vaccinated at eight months with a trifecta of vaccines -- MMR. Interestingly, for these infants, there are no easily determined contraindications listed by the CDC. Why is that? Every other medicine lists precautions. Shouldn’t the MMR vaccine do the same? Why not one vaccine at a time? Vaccines are life-savers -- for individuals and entire populations. However, let's not unnecessarily, cruelly sacrifice some infants for the "greater good."

I hope that Russians are learning about what their government is doing in the U.S. and in Europe in their name. Do Russians pay taxes? Do they have any say in what their government does, or are they ever the ignorant serfs of czars and dictators? Is this what they want their military and government to spend their money on? Creating factories of lies and sowing discord among the people of Western nations, fixing elections like Putin's must have also been? Invading other countries and telling lies on the internet seems to be Russia's main exports these days. Are Russians proud of relying on the computers and software of other nations instead of actually creating the technologies of the future that would help their nation and their world? There are many reasons to be ashamed of our current administration, but I wonder how ordinary Russians feel knowing that their government can't actually provide the jobs, salaries, technology, and standard of living of Western countries, and so has to rely on spoiling other lands through spying, bugging, and botting and trolling?

Wasn't our President opposed to vaccines? As I recall, he thought they were responsible for autism in children.

All you waif-flowers, (Flower waifes?) can get vaccinated for everything & then some Me, I just expose my system to gradually increasing amounts of the various things that ail people: poison oak (I can now pull it out of the ground as climbs upward or just coming out of the ground on the side of the road); rusty skin-piercing objects and daily, if not hourly dirt related (dirty) injuries (tetanus exposure); meat-bees, aka wasps, instead of “owee” (ouch), it’s “Oh, are you actually stinging me, softly, as I dig up your nest under a slab of cement & put the fire and gasoline to it! (Honeybees are far & few, ‘cause there’s definitely colony collapse)

Have you read about Indonesia's measles rubella vaccine debate? Hardliners argue that the vaccine is not acceptable in Islam rule (haram) as the medium is using pork, insisting they won't vaccinate their children until the acceptable (halal) vaccine is finally invented--despite the real medical risks they'll put to pregnant mothers and their babies. And the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) has issued a statement that the measles rubella vaccine contains haram substance, but Muslims may use it. http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2018/08/21/mr-vaccine-contains-haram-... I hope they're all just Russian trolls because it is so embarrassing to have your country debate over superficial things, halal/haram thing is ridiculously trivial when the risks are real and might affect others. Not even the Middle East coutry make an issue out of it.

I continue to be stunned by the inability of Americans to think critically and sort thru information. Is this due to a failing of our education system, the prevalence of social media being treated as an actual information/news source or what? You don't have to be a medical researcher to find legitimate, understandable information on say vaccines or other controversial topics. I thought the "Information Age" was upon us with the coming of the Internet. If it's possible, people seem even less well informed than in the past, while being even more convinced of their opinions. An informed, educated, open minded public is the key to a function democracy- no wonder were in trouble.

Where are her gloves?

Nearly 100% of Russian children are vaccinated not because their parents are more educated. It's because they have no choice in a Communist Regime. We here in the United States allow one to make a choice, no matter how ill-informed that choice may be. The science is clear, however, vaccinations lead to a healthier life and most certainly are not correlated to Autism.

There is no "vaccine debate." There is the truth (vaccines work) and there is ignorance (which will never believe the truth regardless of evidence). That's hardly a "debate."

Perhaps under-appreciated is that not all of the unvaccinated who survive measles virus infection are made whole again. One of my great-uncles, who lived to be 97, survived the influenza pandemic of 1918 and dodged tuberculosis, an untreatable scourge in his day, but as a child suffered measles encephalitis which left him totally blind, unemployable and house-bound for the rest of his long life.

What a great way to weaken your enemy, cause an epidemic. From now on anti-vax advocates are not just stupid, they are a national security threat and should be handled appropriately.

I don’t need Boris to convince me that anti-vaxxers are dangerous narcissistic children, I knew it already.

The Russian trolls are exploiting the general lack of understanding about science that was first generated when Dr Wakefield reported MMR caused Autism in the Lancet in 1998 in a study that has been discredited. His motives were consider unethical and he lost his license to practice medicine but the damage was done. The seed was planted and the battle has continued with the scientists and doctors one one side and the Autism fanatics on the other. Emotions run high and children go unvaccinated in the US and Europe. Measles carries a fatality rate of 1 per 1000 cases with 1 in 4 cases hospitalized. This conflict isn’t too dissimilar to the political conflict we are experiencing that has been stirred up by our current President and is being flamed by the Russians, all they have to do is pick an issue, any issue. No room for compromise, they want us to be at polar ends of the argument. That way we all surfer.

Few stories on this also noted that they did the same thing on anti-GMO issues. That scientific paper came out months ago. This is an assault on science on many fronts. There are real consequences to this kind of misinformation on food, infection, climate. Who are you gonna hear? Scientists or dissemblers? What should we make policy on? Think this through.

It’s an interesting approach by the Russians to use views toward Vaccines to sway the election. Yet, I’m curious, did anyone ever actually read these tweets?

Why was the anti-vaxer's 4 year old crying? Midlife crisis. That's what the Russians should've trolled.

Dr. Broniatowski suspiciously reads like a name readers may associate with a troll. Congressional investigators and NBC News are well known collaborators with the CIA to spread nationalist lies.

Oh, l get it now, the Russians are exploiting the misinformed. No wonder they fit in so well with the Trump team.

Pretty nasty, but lots of stupid people. But it is Friday and a report of measles in Boston so time to party. Let's get some unpasteurized milk, and road trip to Boston to have a Pox party!!! Cough on a random stranger on the way home to spread the joy. Come on people, think.

I really wish the NY Times would stop referring to anti-vax shenanigans as the "Vaccine Debate". There is no debate, only misinformation that seeks to obscure the science on vaccine effectiveness.

No discord for me. Anti-vaxers are morons.

Yeah, before Russians there was no opposition to vaccination in the US. It is all making of Russian trolls. By the way, American schools do grant a waiver of vaccination on the ground of religious beliefs. So, brining God in discussion about vaccination is not something new in the US but rather established practice.

Many Americans are eager contrarians who reject science as a way of feeling smarter than the "establishment." Whether it be rejection of vaccines (often times by many on the left), or denial of global warming (overwhelming by those on the right), we have an epidemic of anti-science sentiment in the country.

Shutting down social media (as if that is even possible) won't fix the problem. Part of the issue is that we have yet to solve the issue of identity on the internet. Anyone can hide anonymously behind an account and not be held at all accountable for their behavior. It's like we've given everyone carte blanche to yell 'Fire' behind the curtain at a movie theater. However, it's not just a movie theater but the entire world. It's not just the Russians but Americans that are gaming this broken system for their own enrichment and benefit. Thousands of US citizens are actively posting to sway the markets one way or the other based on their positions on Wall Street. Thousands of US citizens and companies are actively engaged in posting fake reviews of competitor products. It used to be called fraud.

Interesting. You’ve heard of augmented reality, yes? This is augmented conflict, augmented stupidity, augmented distrust. For Russia, a great strategy to destroy us without firing a shot. The planted seeds will germinate forever. A de facto civil war, with education, science, medicine, democracy as the primary casualties. Explains how trump, who manufactures discord, is supported so well.

At this point there can be no doubt that social media is a failed experiment. The Russians have used pure diabolical genius to weaponize these platforms against us, effectively transforming them into vast cesspools of lies and hatred-provoking inhumanity. KILL YOUR SOCIAL MEDIA ACCOUNTS BEFORE IT IS TOO LATE!

Wait a minute... Dorit Rubenstein Reiss and Paul Offit are Russian trolls?? Who knew...

It seems Russian trolls are having a field day on this column today!

And the New York Times comment sections have played a role in this ongoing fiasco. Anyone who regularly reads these sections can see that certain threads are plagued by disinformation. Please, New York Times, think twice about allowing posts that are blatantly factually incorrect, like the anti-vaccination posts below. Lives depend on it.

Suppose the Russians start to post pro and con messages on e cigarettes, seatbelts, home schooling, school admissions tests, low income multifamily housing, or about a million other things? All they are doing is joining a million other voices on every possible side of every argument. Every time we react as if these messages are "tearing us apart." As if the same messages from Indiana or Texas or Canada or India for that matter are ho hum who cares. But if they're traced to some Russian, it's hair on fire time. Can we please just accept that messages we like or don't like / agree or disagree with can come from anywhere in the planet and stop letting them drive us crazy?

Very revealing reporting by Donald McNeil. It raises the question beyond the technical capability of the Russian trollers: is there any theoretical guidance from behavioral experts? Not to raise the specter of a “Manchurian candidate”, but there has to be more behind this Russian activity than a bunch of Twinkie eating, Coke consuming kids who are randomly trying to disrupt things (there just must be a cache of Twinkies in Russia). In that regard, a question is, do the originators of this troll strategy have a metric for their success? There is no reason to conduct activity like this if there is no benefit. But we don’t want to credit Russian intelligence with too much acumen. A lot of this trolling could have been initiated by misguided groups that were funded by poorly directed management. It’s serious. Our intelligence services need to understand the *direction*, the purpose, of these Russian efforts, which I am sure they are investigating. Russian trolls during the 2016 election, and probably the presidential primary, benefitted trump. Trump’s private conversation with Putin, the contents of which are unreported to the American people, and turmp’s opaque relation with Russia, give us no confidence in him to defend the U.S. against Russian intervention. In trump, Russians found the ability to control our heartland through trump’s loyal followers. If they control that, then they control our government because of its electoral system. It’s brilliant.

But, that represents only a small fraction of those who actually brought claims to the Vaccine Court. You see, there is a 36 month window to bring the claim. There is no “tolling” granted for minors, unlike all the Civil Courts in the U.S. Guess what? Neurological injuries may not present in infants for long after 36 months. Furthermore, who knows how many cases were never brought by attorneys on behalf of a vaccine injured child, because the statute of limitations ran out? Don’t let anyone tell you that vaccines don’t cause injury. They have, they do and they will do so in the future. For years, Thimerosal was used as a preservative in multi-dose vials. While still proclaiming it “safe”, vaccine makers “voluntarily” removed Thimerosal. It is still present in trace amounts and in flu vaccine. Thimerosal was never approved by the FDA, as the patents predated the establishment of said regulations. Worried? With nearly 6,000 cases pending the USCFC held the “Omnibus Autism Hearings.” They decided not to make “autism” a “table injury.” How convenient. Since there would never be enough money to pay for all who claim an “autism” injury. But, there have been many cases compensated for “encephalopathy” as a diagnosis with reference to autism. You can read it: http://digitalcommons.pace.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1681&cont...

Make. It. Stop. Russia didn't meddle in our election. They made laughingstocks out of Americans who think that twitter, facebook, instagram, (& whatever else) are actual sources of news. That's all they did. Now the whole free world is freaking out and Putin is sitting back, congratulating himself on creating such overblown uproars. With nothing but posts to social media. People, a monkey could probably be taught how to post to facebook. Certainly an intelligent parrot could. There's something called "discernment." All of America -- definitely including what passes for actual media these days -- needs to learn how to use it.

“Vaccines Are Unavoidably Unsafe” Don’t take my word for it. This is the unmistakable conclusion of the SCOTUS in Bruesewitz v. Wyeth, LLC in a decision in 2011. Unfortunately, due to the protections afforded the vaccine maker in the National Childhood Vaccine Act of 1986, the Court ruled against a vaccine injured plaintiff in the case. How? In the 1980s, children were having adverse reactions to the DTP (diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis) vaccine. Lots of lawsuits were being filed against docs and vaccine manufacturers. This caused the pharmaceutical industry to threaten pulling out of the vaccine market, and the alarm bells rang that the nation’s health and safety were at risk. Why were vaccine manufacturers getting ready to take their ball and go home? Because vaccines fall into a class of products considered “unavoidably unsafe.” I am not kidding you. This “unavoidable” word comes from the National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act itself “products which, in the present state of human knowledge, are quite incapable of being made safe.” I am NOT a TROLL! I will give the readers the rest of the story below.

Off-topic, sorry, but I've been thinking that the ascent of Trump is the best evidence yet that the Illuminati don't exist, unless, like Sauron, they want to "sow discord." As for vaccination, this and most/all other conspiracy theories are for people who haven't learned to handle reality.

For the record, I am not “anti-vaccine.” Both of my children were fully vaccinated. Unfortunately for us, our son was neurologically disabled by vaccines. It is indisputable, yet the government and the vaccine makers still think that there is a “greater good” to be served. They may be right. But, let’s not fool ourselves. Vaccines can be made safer. It is about money.

One has to wonder to just what extent the Russian and other trolls out there have contributed to the polarization of many issues in the United States and other parts of the Western world, and not just over vaccines. That's not to say that there haven't always been differences, but these apparent attempts to exacerbate and intensify them, and rouse up emotions that lessen the opportunity for dialogue and political compromise, always lead to the question of who benefits from this, and what the trolls are actually trying to accomplish. So, always be on guard. There just seem to be so many out there willing to manipulate too many of us for idiosyncratic reasons that may not be in most of our best interests. (Of course, I'm simplistic and think it always comes down to augmenting political power, and with that, the opportunity to augment riches. But that's just me.)