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Anti-vaccination content should be “removed” on social media, Labor has said.
With hopes of a COVID-19 jab, launched at the end of the year, the opposition has called for emergency legislation to “eradicate dangerous anti-vax content.”
The party wants the government to introduce legislation that includes financial and criminal sanctions for companies that do not act against such content.
Labor has claimed anti-vaccination groups with hundreds of thousands of members on social media are “misinformation” on the issue.
Shadow secretary of culture Jo Stevens and shadow health secretary Jonathan Ashworth wrote to culture secretary Oliver Dowden, insisting that the “spread of misinformation online presents a real and present danger” to vaccination efforts.
Ms Stevens said: “The government has a regrettable record of cracking down on online platforms that are facilitating the spread of disinformation.
“It has been clear for years that this is a widespread and growing problem and the government knows, because the Labor Party has been warning them for some time, that it poses a real threat to vaccine adoption.
“This is literally a matter of life and death and anyone who is deterred from getting vaccinated by this is one too many.”
Labor insisted that the government’s involvement in social media platforms, targeting anti-vaccination content, did not go far enough.
The two shadow cabinet ministers said in their letter to the culture secretary: “What we need is action now, and since these companies have not been able to take action on their own, we are asking the government to introduce emergency legislation that Include financial and criminal measures Penalties for continued non-compliance.
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“Labor would give the government the votes it needs to get the House of Commons to pass that bill.”
A government spokesman said: “Letting vaccine misinformation spread uncontrollably could cost British lives.
“We take this issue very seriously and have secured a strong commitment from Facebook, Twitter and Google to address it without capitalizing on that material and responding to flagged content more quickly.”
