Is
Fake News
Making
Us Sick?
How misinformation may
be reducing vaccination rates in Brazil.

A Report by Avaaz and the Brazilian
Society of Immunization (SBIm)INTROEXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Around the world, fake news has become a massive threat politically andpersonally - whether we look at fake health information, bullies spreading
viral lies about kids in school, or disinformation infesting our elections.
Frighteningly, Brazilians have been found to believe fake news more thanmost people in the world, according to an Ipsos poll conducted in 27 countries.1 And the results may be life-threatening.
Is Fake News Making Us Sick? is a conjoined study between Avaaz and
the Brazilian Society of Immunizations (SBIm), a member of the Vaccine
Safety Net (VSN) - a global network coordinated by the World Health Organization (WHO). Our goal was to examine the role that misinformation2 onsocial media platforms and messaging applications may be playing in the
declining vaccination rate in Brazil, which hit its lowest point in 2017.3
According to data from the Ministry of Health’s National Immunization
Program, over the past two years vaccine coverage among children under 1
year of age was lower than the desired minimum4 . The critical period started in 2017, when 25% of the population at risk of contracting yellow fever,most of them children, were not vaccinated. The problem remains critical:
recent data reveals that only 88% of the targeted population was vaccinatedagainst measles nationwide this year, while 100 municipalities vaccinatedunder 50% of the targeted population against polio.

1 https://valor.globo.com/brasil/noticia/2018/10/08/brasileiroe-o-povo-que-mais-acredita-em-boatos-aponta-pesquisa.ghtml
2 Misinformation Definition: The definition of misinformation
we have used is content that is “incorrect or misleading
information”. It is important to note that not all antivaccination content (content that puts vaccines in a negative
light) is considered misinformation. In this report there is arange of content from anti-vaccination content to disinformation,
content that may be intentionally created to deceive the public.
Given that our investigation did not delve into intent of content
creators, we are strictly focusing on the factually inaccurate
nature of content.
3 https://g1.globo.com/bemestar/noticia/com-menor-indice-em-16anos-vacinas-que-deveriam-ser-aplicadas-em-criancas-ficaramfora-da-meta-em-2017.ghtml
4 Indexes in children are used as a reference because of thehigher accuracy of the data. However, it is known that among
adolescents and adults the results are even more unsatisfactory.

4

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Our findings show that the gap in reliablevaccine information is being partially filled byanti-vaccination content and misinformation
being posted on and shared across social media and messaging apps -- some of which iscreated by people who are also selling alternative “cures” alongside this anti-vax content.
It also appears misinformation is having an impact on attitudes toward vaccine safety among
those who get their main vaccine informationfrom social media and messaging apps. Those
individuals appear more likely to believe thefactually inaccurate vaccine information they
are seeing.
In order to measure the impact of online
vaccination misinformation and negative vaccination content on Brazilians, Avaaz divided our
research and reporting into three phases:

1.

Measuring attitudes towardvaccines & how Brazilians
get their information - The
Ibope Poll (Study conductedby Avaaz with SBIm) We commissioned a national face-to-face poll from
Ibope with a sample of 2,002 people,
representative of the Brazilian population aged 16 years and older, with quota
control by sex, age, education andindustry. Asking respondents questions
about where they get their top information about vaccines, what reasons they
may have for not vaccinating themselves or a child under their care, andassessing their ability to identify factually inaccurate vaccination statements.

2.

Analysing the most common
anti-vaccine content andmisinformation on social
media and messaging apps
(investigation conducted by
Avaaz): Then we analysed misinformation about vaccinations that has been
debunked by the most relevant fact
checking agencies5 in the country plus
the Ministry of Health itself, and we also
identified the most shared anti-vaccine
content and the main pages that spreadthem in Brazil.
a. As part of this research, Avaaz
has created an open source database of anti-vaccination content.
Using an automated program
based on key words and news titles, we identified over 1,600 links
on negative news about vaccines- we are making this databasepublicly available to encourage
further research.

3.

Uncovering who is behind anti-vaccine content and misinformation (investigation
conducted by Avaaz): Analysing
the data obtained in the previous phaseof the study, we started digging into theindividuals and companies behind theanti-vaccination pages and websites
still impactful on social platforms, andattempted to assess if there were economic or political interests behind them.

5 doctor Drauzio Varella’s website, Lupa, Aos Fatos, Fato ou Fake, Boatos.org,
E-farsas, Uol Confere and the service Health Without Fakes by the Ministry of Health5MAIN FINDINGS• Top reasons for not vaccinating. 13% of those interviewed
failed to vaccinate themselves or a child under their care, this represents
approximately 21,249,073 Brazilians6. The top reasons cited for not vaccinating were: 1) lack of planning or forgetfulness; 2) I didn’t think vaccination
was necessary (which is considered inaccurate or misinformation by SBIm);
3) Lack of information; and 4) Fear of serious side effects (which is also
considered inaccurate or misinformation by SBIm).
• Brazilians believe misinformation about vaccines. In
order to identify whether respondents had seen or believed vaccine misinformation, Avaaz sourced a list of the most reported myths about vaccinations heard by doctors according to SIBM. Almost 7 in 10 Brazilians(67%) were found to believe at least one factually inaccurate statement
about vaccines -- identifying at least one of the inaccurate statements asa true fact.
• Misinformation is stopping people from vaccinating.
57% of those who did not vaccinate cite a reason that is understood to be
factually inaccurate, something SBIm and WHO consider to be misinformation.7 For example, that vaccines have great chances of having serious side
effects or that vaccines are not necessary.
• Social Media and messaging apps are a top source ofvaccination information. 48% have reported social media andWhatsapp as one of their main sources of information about vaccines. It is
the second most popular means of getting informed about vaccines.
• People who get their vaccination information on social media or messaging apps are most at risk. The
proportion of people who believe inaccurate information about vaccines ishigher among those who use social media and/or WhatsApp as a sourceof information -- 73% for those getting their vaccine information from social
media versus 60% for those who cite other sources.

6 Source: IBOPE Inteligência based on official data of IBGE
(Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics) “Estimate of
the Brazilian population with 16 years or more” 163,454,407
million.
7 The criteria used to define what was and was not misinformation
is further explained in the methodology section.

6

MAIN FINDINGS• Young people and men are among
the most vulnerable to misinformation. From all the people surveyed,
young people, males, people belonging to the
middle class, people who have an educationlevel between 5th grade and High School andthose who live outside the southeast region
were found to be the least capable of spotting misinformation about vaccines, the most
likely to feel vaccines are unsafe, and reported
the most exposure to negative news about
vaccines. Young people and men are also theones that most cite social media and messaging apps as a source of information about
vaccines.

• Misinformation on vaccines
may be being used to make aprofit. A significant proportion of
the anti-vax claims we reviewed in ourinvestigation were published by or originated from web pages that are publishingnegative content and / or misinformation
about vaccines alongside links to “miraculous” cures and other alternative healthproducts. We note that some social media
companies have barred anti-vaccination
information from advertising, but have notacted to remove it from organic content
that drives readers to websites sellingthese alternative medicines.

• Most people who believe vaccines
are unsafe have seen negative
news about vaccines on social
media or messaging apps. 8% of Brazilians find vaccines partially unsafe, among
them 72% have seen negative news about
vaccines on social media. Another 6% findvaccines totally unsafe -- among those, 59%
have seen negative news about vaccines onsocial media.

• YouTube has anti-vaccinationinfluencers reaching millions. The top anti-vaccine YouTube
stars this investigation found were Jaime
Bruning; Ciência de Verdade (Real Science); Lair Ribeiro; Romulus Maraschin
and Evangelists of the Apocalypse. The
videos identified by Avaaz sum almost
9 million views - 7.4 million in the past 3
years.

• Brazilian misinformation sourced
back to the US. Of the anti vaccination misinformation we investigated, which
had been debunked by the most relevant
fact-checking agencies in Brazil, much of thecontent was originally produced in the US,
and has been reposted by Brazillian accounts.
For example the website “Natural News”, led
by the American Mike Adams, is the original
source of 32% of our sample.

• Reliable sources can stop
fake news. People assessed in thisstudy who saw negative news about vaccines on social media still tended to feelsafe about vaccines if they also had access to doctors and other reliable sources.

7

RECOMMENDATIONS
The government and social media platforms
must work together to contain the misinformation epidemic that is affecting Brazil.
Most people exposed to content spread by
the websites, pages, channels and networks
uncovered in this report will probably neverknow they were being misinformed. Only theplatforms know who saw which inaccurate pieces of information and only the platforms cantell people that they were victims of anti-vaccine misinformation by correcting the record. If
about half of the population, or 48%, is getting
informed about their health and the health oftheir loved ones on social media and messaging apps, the rules that apply inside these virtual places influence real life and public healthand matter for the common welfare.
Below, we’ve listed a series of recommendations to curb this threat.

Big social media platforms and instant messaging apps need to be proactive in adapting
their algorithms to ensure that they are notthemselves accelerating misinformation.

Transparency
It is essential that governments, civil society,and the general public be informed about thenature and scale of the threat of anti-vaccine
misinformation and the measures being taken
by social media platforms to guard against it.
Social media platforms with relevant reachmust provide periodic reports, audited byindependent auditors, listing the misinformation found on their services and detailing theirefforts to deal with it.
Crackdown on Deceptive Tactics
Platforms of social network must, protecting
constitutional principles and fundamental
rights, assure the adoption of a strong andtransparent policy towards page name changes in the platforms, to ensure malicious actors
won’t be creating pages with popular themes,
then changing after reaching many followers.
Additionally, social media platforms should becautious about coordinated sharing of misinformation content by “alternative outlets”.
Other deceptive tactics include the use of fakeaccounts and inauthentic spread, when malicious actors create different pages to boost
misinformation content from one another togame the platform’s algorithms. It is importantto remember that the use of bots to spreadsuch misinformation can also escalate theproblem if not properly addressed.

TO SOCIALMEDIA PLATFORMS:
Correct the Record
This means that social media platforms must
work with experts, the scientific community
and independent fact-checkers to immediately
issue corrections to every user who has seenor interacted with misinformation, including
anti-vaccine misinformation; as well as inform
followers of pages that have been taken down
or demoted in the platforms algorithms forengaging in anti-vaccine misinformation campaigns.
Detox the Algorithm
Without proper care and oversight, the algorithms platforms use to display and promote
content can increase user engagement withmisinformation and other harmful content.

8

RECOMMENDATIONSTO BRAZILIAN
OFFICIALS AND
GOVERNMENTAUTHORITIES:
1. TO THE MINISTRY OF
HEALTH AND THE FEDERAL
GOVERNMENT:a.

b.

Review communication strategies, seeking channels thatcan disseminate information
more effectively. To fight vaccine misinformation and anti-vaccination
opinions, we need more information
available to the public. It is strongly recommended that the federal government
in 2020 include a bold plan to cover any
missing information gaps that are being
filled by fake news.

c.

Develop social media focused
campaigns. We also encourage thegovernment to channel resources forthe development of educational campaigns focused on social networks, attacking the most popular misinformation
content identified by this study.

d.

More, better and fasterfact-checking. We acknowledge
the Ministry of Health’s efforts to verify
anti-vaccine misinformation and encourage it to improve this core service by
actively seeking anti-vaccine misinformation and working with the scientificcommunity to unmask lies.

2. TO THE NATIONALCONGRESS:

Increase communication efforts for groups most vulnerable to disinformation.
The combination of lack of information
and a flood of online rumors, makes entire communities vulnerable. We strongly suggest that the Ministry of Healthseeks to find ways to target the populations identified by this report (youth,
men, middle-class people, people withintermediate education - between thefifth grade of elementary school andhigh school - and residents from outside
the Southeast region) who are more
influenced by misinformation and lessadherent to vaccinations.

9a.

Introduce amendments to theFederal Government’s 2020
budget to provide funding for communication efforts and other strategies
to increase population adherence tovaccination.

b.

Introduce legislation thatguarantees that social media users are offered factchecked corrections to theanti-vaccination misinformation they
have been exposed to while protecting
freedom of speech and not criminalising the average user who unintentionally spreads a piece of misinformation or
was led to error.

1PHASE I:MEASURING
ATTITUDESTOWARDVACCINES & HOW
BRAZILIANSGET THEIRINFORMATION

1.1

METHODOLOGYIBOPE Inteligência conducted a face to face survey in Brazil - with 2,002
interviews - to assess the perception of Brazilians about vaccines and how
their sources of information were impacting their vaccination choices. The
questionnaire was formulated by experts from Avaaz and the Brazilian Society of Immunizations (SBIm), with support from Ibope researchers.

DATE OF FIELD WORK: September 19th-22nd, 2019
SAMPLE: 2,002 Brazilians over 16 years-old.
MARGIN OF ERROR: The maximum margin of error is 2 percentage
points up and down.
TRUST LEVEL: 95% (probability that these results represent the current
situation)
DATA COLLECTION: Personal interviews using questionnaires designed
for the survey’s purpose. The interviews were conducted by a team ofinterviewers from IBOPE properly trained.
QUALITY CONTROL: All questionnaires are filtered after the interview.
Inspection is done in approximately 20% of the questionnaires.

12

1.1 METHODOLOGY

INTERVIEWEESPROFILE:SEXINSTRUCTION

CLASS

48%

52%
Female17%22%

16 to 24

22%

Up to 4º grade

25 to 34

20%

26%

23%

AGE

22%

5ª to 8ª grade

35 to 4438%

18%

High School

48%

A/B

Male

C

RACE/COLOR

45 to 54

20%

2%

University

D/E

55 or +RELIGION

31%

FAMILY INCOME(In minimun wage)

28% 28%

54% Catholic

White

64%

28% EvangelicalBlack/Mixed

5%

18% Others

Other

CONDITIONS
OF MUNICIPALITY

Up to
1 M.W.

26

11%

More than More than More than
1-2 M.W.
2-5 M.W.
5 M.W.

*7% – Didn't respond

REGION25%

13%

CapitalOutskirts

26%

Northeast

62%
Interior

17%

SIZE OF MUNICIPALITY

North /
Midwest(In number of inhabitants)

43%

36%

34%

Up to 50 mil

50 to 500mil

Southeast

30%

More than
500 mil

14%
South

13

1.1 METHODOLOGYHOW WE MEASURE BELIEF
IN VACCINE MISINFORMATION
In order to identify whether respondents had seen or believed in vaccine misinformation, Avaaz sourced a list of the most reported myths about
vaccination heard by doctors according to SIBM. Then, we included that listin two poll questions and, in one of them, we asked respondents to identify
which statements were accurate. The list was: there are big chances thatvaccines can cause the disease they are trying to prevent; vaccines havebig chances of causing serious side effects; there are alternative treatmentsthat are as efficient or more than vaccines; some vaccines, such as HPV, canbe an incentive for young people to become promiscuous; vaccines overcharge small children’s immunological systems; parents/family can get sickfrom their babies’ feces after vaccination with a live virus such as rotavirus;
the government uses vaccination to forcefully sterilize poor people; pregnant women can’t take vaccines; contracting the actual disease is a stronger
protection than getting vaccinated; fear of getting sick with the disease I wastrying to prevent with the vaccine; fear of having serious side effects after
taking a vaccine; I didn’t think the vaccine was necessary; I chose an alternative treatment instead which I considered more efficient; the news, stories
or warnings I read online.
Every respondent who cited that they believe factually inaccurate information about vaccines8 or that this inaccurate information was a main reason for not vaccinating themselves or a child from questions 3B9 or 4 werethen marked as part of a group who had 1) seen or interacted with vaccine
misinformation 2) believed in that vaccine misinformation. If a respondent
didn’t choose any of the misinformation answers, the poll assumes that they
were able to spot it or were not influenced by vaccine misinformation.

8 We considered inaccurate all information that contradicts thebest recommendations at the WHO and the SBIm.
9 In question 3B, we considered either partial or complete
products of misinformation: fear of getting sick with the disease
I was trying to prevent with the vaccine; fear of having serious
side effects after taking a vaccine; I didn’t think the vaccine
was necessary; I chose an alternative treatment instead which
I considered more efficient; the news, stories or warnings I
read online. On question number 4 all alternatives are factuallyinaccurate information about vaccines.

141.1 METHODOLOGYHOW WE ANALYSE THE RESULTS
In addition to testing individual respondent’s ability to spot a piece ofvaccine misinformation, once we collected the results we split these groupsof respondents in two:

GROUP A: those who reported social media and/or messaging services such as WhatsApp as one of their top 3 sources of information
about vaccines
GROUP B: those who didn’t report either social media nor messaging
services such as WhatsApp as one of their top 3 sources of information about vaccines

Applying that model, we were then able to compare each cohort’s attitudes and behavior towards vaccines.

QUESTIONS ASKED
Interviewees were asked the questions below in the following order:
1. Thinking about vaccines in general, would you say that vaccines aretotally safe, partially safe, partially unsafe or totally unsafe?

54%

Consideram as
vacinas totalmente
seguras45%

Sentem alguma
insegurança em
relação às vacinas39%São hesitantes emrelação às vacinas

31%

Partially safe

54%

Totally safe

Parcialmente seguras + Parcialmente inseguras +totalmente inseguras

8%

Partially unsafe

Parcialmente seguras + Parcialmente inseguras

2%

I don’t know
Didn’t respondBase amostra: 2002

15

6%

Totally unsafe

1.1 METHODOLOGY

2. And from which of these sources do you MORE see or hear information
about vaccines? And secondly? And thirdly?

48%
43%
42%
41%

68%

Traditional media (TV, radio,
newspapers and news websites
from traditional media)

Social Media (Facebook, YouTube, Instagram,etc.) Whatsapp or other messaging apps

Conversations with friends and family

Ministry of Health/government

Doctors, nurses and other health professionals

9%
1%
1%
2%

Church and other religious groups

Other sources (spontaneous)I don’t keep informed (spontaneous)I don’t know / Didn’t respondBase amostra: 2002

16

1.1 METHODOLOGY

3.A - Have you ever not vaccinated yourself or a child under your care?

YES 13%

87% NO

21.249.073 brasileiros
com 16 anos ou mais

3.B - (if answered yes to the previous one) And what was the main reason for you to stop vaccinating or vaccinating any children in your care?
And secondly? And thirdly?

38%
31%
27%
24%
20%
18%
9%
7%
4%
20%
2%

Lack of planning or forgetfulness
I didn’t think the vaccine was necessary
Lack of information
Fear of getting sick with the disease I was trying to prevent with the vaccine
Difficult access to vaccination posts
Fear of having serious side effects after taking a vaccine
The news, stories or warnings I read online
I chose an alternative treatment instead which I considered more efficient
The stories or warnings from my religious leaders
Other (spontaneous)I don’t know / Didn’t respondBase amostra: 2002

17

1.1 METHODOLOGY

10. Now, from the phrases below, I would like you to tell me all that you
think are CORRECT10?

67%
Acreditam
em pelomenos um
notícia falsa
sobre vacinas

24%

There are big chances that vaccines cancause the disease they are trying to prevent

20%

Vaccines have big chances of causing
serious side effects

19%

Pregnant women can’t take vaccines

18%

Some vaccines, such as HPV, can be an
incentive for young people to become
promiscuous

17%

There are alternative treatments thatare as efficient or more than vaccines

14%

The government uses vaccination toforcefully sterilize poor people

13%

Vaccines overcharge small children’s
immunological systems

12%

Contracting the actual disease isa stronger protection than getting
vaccinated7%

Parents/family can get sick from theirbabies’ feces after vaccination withalive virus such as rotavirus

22%

None is accurate

11%

I don’t know / Didn’t respondBase amostra: 2002

10 The first 10 statements here are incorrect according todoctors at SBIm and the WHO website.

18

1.1 METHODOLOGY

5. How often have you received or become aware of any negative messages about vaccines through Social Networks (Facebook, Youtube, Instagram, etc.) or WhatsApp?

5% Almost every day
4% Every day
I don’t know
2% Didn’t respond

29%

Sometimes

23%
Rarely

36%
Never

19

1.2

ATTITUDESABOUT VACCINES:
POLL FINDINGSIN DETAIL
WHO IS SKIPPINGVACCINATIONS AND WHY
The vast majority of Brazilians (87%) say they have never skipped getting a vaccination for themselves or a child under their care, while 13% of
those interviewed say they have failed to get a vaccine for themselves ora child under their care. This may sound small, but it represents approximately 21,249,073 Brazilians over 16 years old.11

FAILED TO GET A VACCINEFOR THEMSELVES OR FOR A CHILD(STIMULATED %)YES 13%

87% NO
11 Source: IBOPE Inteligência based on official data of IBGE
(Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics) “Estimate of theBrazilian population with 16 years or more” 163,454,407 million.

20

1.2 ATTITUDES ABOUT VACCINES:
POLL FINDINGS IN DETAIL

Age appears to be a factor here:18% among the youngest (16 to 24 years
old) failed to get a vaccine for themselves or for a child under their care, a
percentage that falls to 8% among adults over 44 years of age. It’s worth
noting that young people are also the main users of social media/messaging
services - 61% cited them as sources of information for vaccines.
We believe misinformation plays an important role here, and could be
stopping a relevant part of the population from seeking vaccines, thus bringing back previously eradicated diseases in Brazil. Based on our polling, 57%of those who did not vaccinate report at least one reason that is considered misinformation by SBIm12. Among those who decided not to vaccinate based on misinformation, 60% said social media and messaging
services are one of their top 3 sources of information about vaccines.
The most cited reasons not to vaccinate that are considered to be misinformation are, in this order: I didn’t think the vaccine was necessary (31%);fear of having serious side effects after taking a vaccine (24%); fear of getting sick with the disease I was trying to prevent with the vaccine (18%); because of the news, stories or warnings I read online (9%).

REASONS TO SKIP VACCINATION

57%

GeneralPopulation

63%

People who
get informed
in social media

Didn't vaccinated for reasons related to misinformation

12 Using as a criteria the standards considered inaccurate by
the World Health Organization (WHO), misinformation was included
into the answers of question 3.B on purpose. The misinformation
included was: fear of getting sick with the disease I was trying
to prevent with the vaccine; fear of having serious side effects
after taking a vaccine; I didn’t think the vaccine was necessary;
I chose an alternative treatment instead which I considered more
efficient; the news, stories or warnings I read online; thestories or warnings from my religious leaders.

211.2 ATTITUDES ABOUT VACCINES:
POLL FINDINGS IN DETAIL

Among the general population, misinformation13 is cited as a reason not
to vaccinate more than lack of access to vaccination posts (20%) or forgetfulness (38%), for example. Lack of information is also a big reason - 27%
claimed skipping vaccination for this reason.

PEOPLE WHO DID NOT GET VACCINATED FORREASONS BASED ON MISINFORMATION

40%

60%

Don't getinformed insocial media

Get informed
in social media

About 1 in 10 Brazilians openly admit not vaccinating themselves or achild under their care because of news they read online. We estimate that
this number is, in reality, much higher since vaccination is mandatory in Brazil and those who avoid it can be punished with fees, sued by child endangerment and even lose the guardianship of their child(ren). So, they arelikely not to admit it.

13 Here we refer to the statements that are considered partial
or full products of misinformation by the experts at SBIm andthe WHO website.

221.2 ATTITUDES ABOUT VACCINES:
POLL FINDINGS IN DETAILSOCIAL MEDIA & MESSAGING APPS ARE AN IMPORTANT
SOURCE OF INFORMATION ABOUT VACCINES
Respondents were asked to select up to 3 sources of information inwhich they most see or hear information about vaccines. Traditional media, which includes television, radio, newspapers and news websites of themainstream press stands out as the most cited source, with 68%. Social networks such as Facebook, YouTube and Instagram and/or WhatsApp or otherinstant messaging applications came in second place, mentioned by nearly
half of the population (48%) as a source of vaccination information.
On the other hand, the sources, in theory, most qualified to provide information about vaccines - Government / Ministry of Health and health professionals - came in 4th and 5th place respectively.

Traditional media (TV, radio,
newspapers and news websitesof news of the mainstream

68%

Social Media (Facebook,YouTube, Instagram,etc.) Whatsapp or othermessaging apps48%

Conversations
with friends and family

43%

Ministry of Health/government

42%

Doctors, nurses and other
health professionals

41%

Church andother religious groups

11%

Other sources

1%

Have no information (Spe.)1%

I don’t know /Didn’t respond2%
23

1.2 ATTITUDES ABOUT VACCINES:
POLL FINDINGS IN DETAIL

Social Networks have even more dominance as a source of information
for the youngest and more educated. They are cited as a source of information by 60% of respondents with higher educational level against 23% of theleast educated; by 61% of the youngest (16 to 24 y/o) against 32% of the oldest (55 or more) respondents. Gender also impacts the sources of information: 45% of women cite health professionals as a top source of information,
while only 36% of men do so.

SOURCE OF INFORMATION X PROFILE OF RESPONDENT

TOTAL
953

1049

MEN

68%
49%
44%
41%
36%
11%

WOMEN

69%
47%
42%
42%
45%
7%

Traditional MediaSocial Media/ WhatsApp

Government/ Ministry of Health

Friends and family

Health professionals

24

Religious leaders/groups

1.2 ATTITUDES ABOUT VACCINES:
POLL FINDINGS IN DETAIL

TOTAL

624

1284

94

WHITE

72%
48%
43%
41%
42%
8%

BLACK/
MIXED

67%
48%
43%
43%
41%
9%

OTHERS

63%
47%
38%
36%
41%
14%

Traditional MediaSocial Media/ WhatsApp

Government/ Ministry of Health

Friends and family

Health professionals

25

Religious leaders/groups

1.2 ATTITUDES ABOUT VACCINES:
POLL FINDINGS IN DETAIL

TOTAL

333

16 TO 24YEARS OLD

436

434

352

447

25 TO 34
Y/O
35 TO 44Y/O
45 TO 54
Y/O
55 OR
MORE Y/O
Traditional Media

64%
61%
45%
47%
41%
4%
71%
55%
44%
47%
41%
7%
71%
50%
46%
45%
40%
8%
71%
45%
43%
37%
41%
9%
64%
32%
38%
33%
43%
15%
Social Media/ WhatsApp

Government/ Ministry of Health

Friends and family

Health professionals

26

Religious leaders/groups

1.2 ATTITUDES ABOUT VACCINES:
POLL FINDINGS IN DETAIL

TOTAL

431

399

767

405

60%
23%
42%
34%
43%
16%

UP TO 4TH
GRADE

63%
47%
47%
41%
40%
13%

5TH TO 8TH
GRADE

70%
56%
42%
46%
39%
7%

HIGH
SCHOOL
UNIVERSITYLEVEL
Traditional Media

78%
60%
42%
43%
43%
3%

Social Media/ WhatsApp

Government/ Ministry of Health

Friends and family

Health professionals

27

Religious leaders/groups

1.2 ATTITUDES ABOUT VACCINES:
POLL FINDINGS IN DETAIL
TOTAL

465

966

571

CLASSES
A/B
CLASS
C
CLASSES
D/E

75%
59%
41%
43%
37%
6%
69%
50%
43%
41%
41%
8%
61%
35%
44%
42%
44%
13%

Geography is a major factor here, however. According to poll findings:
social networks have less penetration in the countryside (45%), in small sized
cities (46%) and among the poorest (39%).

SOURCES OF INFORMATION IMPACTABILITY TO SPOT MISINFORMATIONABOUT VACCINES
It is impossible to measure the exact causation between people receiving
their vaccine information on social media and messaging apps, and people’s
attitudes and actions about vaccinations. This gets more complex when considering that 43% of interviewees say they get informed about vaccination
through conversations with family and friends, meaning people might talk toeach other about what they read online and influence each-other’s opinions.
Traditional MediaSocial Media/ WhatsApp

Government/ Ministry of Health

Friends and family

Health professionals

28

Religious leaders/groups

1.2 ATTITUDES ABOUT VACCINES:
POLL FINDINGS IN DETAIL

However, the frightening reality is that 67% of Brazilians believe at least
one piece of false information regarding vaccinations. And the results areeven higher for those who use social media and messaging apps as asource of vaccination information. For that population, 73% believe at least
one piece of misinformation.

SOURCE OF INFORMATION X BELIEF
IN MISINFORMATION ABOUT VACCINES
Believe in at least one pieceof misinformation about vaccines

73%

67%

Get informed
in social
media

GeneralPopulation

60%
Doesn't get
informedin social
media

Knowledge about vaccines, tested by presenting several false statements to respondents, is limited and portrays the country’s inequality.
Only 22% correctly identified that all statements about vaccines in the poll
were factually inaccurate. They were mostly women (25% against 19% ofmen); people residing in the Southeast (26%) or in the capitals (27%); andthose with higher education (35%), reaching 34% of those in Classes A/B14
against only 16% of those classified as D/E classes.

14 Here we use Criterio Brasil (http://www.abep.org/criteriobrasil) 187/5000 methodology used to stratify socioeconomic
classes taking into account tenure of durable goods, housing
conditions, use of services, and education of the head ofhousehold. It puts those with better standards of living inclasses A/B and the worse in classes D/E, with class C being thepeople in the middle of the societal pyramid.

29

1.2 ATTITUDES ABOUT VACCINES:
POLL FINDINGS IN DETAIL

It appears the profiles of people who can better spot inaccurate information are also the same people that rank reliable sources of information, suchas traditional media, as their top sources for vaccination information. Observing data on education level and class, we can conclude that the greater
the access to reliable sources of information, such as traditional media, thegreater the possibility of checking the veracity of news and stories.
It also appears that men are the most averse to vaccination. According to
the data in the poll, men appear to be the most uninformed (only 19% wereable to spot all misinformation presented), the ones that feel most unsafe(only 49% said they think vaccines are totally safe, against 57% of women),the most forgetful (45% against 30% of women), the ones who most claim
difficulties in accessing facilities (24% against 15% of women), and the ones
who least perceive the need for vaccination (39% against 23% of women).

PROFILE OF THOSE WHO GOT ALL ANSWERS RIGHT
Total

22%

Men

19%

Women

25%

Up to 4th grade

14%

5th to 8h grade

18%High School

23%

University

35%

Classes A/B

34%

Class C

21%

Classes D/E

16%

30

1.2 ATTITUDES ABOUT VACCINES:
POLL FINDINGS IN DETAILSOCIAL MEDIA & MESSAGING APPS
& PERCEPTION OF VACCINES SAFETY
Looking at the general population, the majority (54%) consider vaccines
to be totally safe while 45% feel some level of unsafety about vaccines.
And the way people get informed about vaccines seems to be a factor in
determining their overall stance on how safe or unsafe they consider vaccines to be. Those who cite social media/messaging services as a source of
information feel less safe about vaccines than those who don't get informedin these means (51% versus 39%). Put another way, those who do not citesocial media and messaging services as a source of information feel moresecure in relation to vaccines than those who do cite such sources (58% and
49% respectively state that they are totally safe).

VACCINE SAFETY - GENERAL POPULATION(STIMULATED - %)31%

Partially safe

54%

Totally safe

8%Partially unsafe

2%

I don’t know
Didn’t respond31

6%Totally unsafe

1.2 ATTITUDES ABOUT VACCINES:
POLL FINDINGS IN DETAIL
Respondents were also asked about the frequency with which they receive negative messages on vaccines through social networks (Facebook,YouTube, Instagram, etc.) or WhatsApp. For example, 38% of Brazilians claim
to have contact with this type of message with some frequency (from every
day to every now and then). For 23%, contact with negative messages concerning vaccines is rare and for 36% it never occurs.

FREQUENCY
OF CONTACT WITH
NEGATIVE MESSAGESON VACCINES(STIMULATED - %)5% Almost every day
4% Every day
I don’t know
2% Didn’t respond

29%

Sometimes

23%

36%

RarelyNeverThose who cite social networks and/or WhatsApp as one of their top
sources of information receive negative messages about vaccines more
frequently by these means: half of them receive these kinds of messages
with some frequency. On the other hand, among those who cite sources of
information other than social networks and/or WhatsApp, about seven outof ten (68%) say they never or rarely have received negative messages on
vaccines, as you can see on the table below.

FREQUENCY OF CONTACT WITH NEGATIVE MESSAGESON VACCINES THROUGH SOCIAL MEDIA OR WHATSAPP(STIMULATED - %)INFORMATION SOURCES ON VACCINES

TOTAL
Get informed in SM/WA

Doesn’t get informedon SM/WA

Receive negative information withsome frequency in social media
and WhatsApp

38%

50%

30%

Rarely or never receive negative
information in social media andWhatsApp

59%

50%

68%

32

1.2 ATTITUDES ABOUT VACCINES:
POLL FINDINGS IN DETAIL

In addition, 72% of those who think vaccines are partially unsafe and 59%of those who think vaccines are totally unsafe have gotten negative news
about vaccines on their social media and messaging services.

PEOPLE WHO THINK VACCINES
ARE PARTIALLY OR TOTALLY UNSAFE

38%

59%

27%

72%

Partially unsafe

Totally unsafe

Never got negative news about vaccines
on Social media / Whatsapp

BASE

GENERAL
POPULATION

Got negative news about vaccines on
Social media / Whatsapp at least once

CITED SOCIAL
MEDIA OR WHATSAPPAS A SOURCE OF
INFORMATION ABOUTVACCINES

DIDN'T CITE SOCIAL
MEDIA OR WHATSAPPAS A SOURCE OF
INFORMATION ABOUTVACCINES

Totally safe

54

49

58

Fell some unsafety(from partially safe tototally unsafe)

45

51

39

PERCEPTION OF SAFETY IN VACCINES X
SOURCES OF INFORMATION ABOUT VACCINES

39%

Feel somelevel of unsafety
about vaccines

51%

58%

49%

Don't get informed in social media

Get informed in social media

33

Feel completely safe about
vaccines

1.2 ATTITUDES ABOUT VACCINES:
POLL FINDINGS IN DETAIL

Avaaz/SBIm were able to profile the type of individual that tends to feelunsafe about vaccines in a bit more detail: they’re usually male, and havesome access to diverse sources of information, had an intermediate levelof formal education (5th grade to high school), are young, and usually are
not close to health professionals nor question the credibility of the vaccine
information they get.

NÍVEL DE SEGURANÇA DAS VACINAS XPERFIL DOS RESPONDENTES
BASE
447
352
434
436
333

55+ years old

60%

45 to 54 years old

21%

57%

35 to 44 years old

8%

29%

55%

4%

31%

5%

9%

2

9%

5% 1

25 to 34 years old

49%

35%

9%

5% 1

16 to 24 years old

45%

41%

8%

4% 2

1049
953

Women

57%

Men

49%

431
399
767
405

Elementary - up to 4th grade

Higher Education

57%

226
530
551
560

More than 5 Minimum Wage

54%

From 2 to 5 MW

55%

From 1 to 2 MW

51%

1076
560
366

A/B Class

54%

35%

C Class52%

33%

D/E Class

55%

624
1284
94

White

55%

Black/Dark skinned

53%

Other

52%

1076
560
366

Evangelical

44%

Other

49%

High School

32%

52%

34

9%

9%

8%

6% 2

4% 3% 1

38%
34%

9%

6% 2

9%

7% 2

6% 3 2

8%

32%

9%
7%

27%

37%

Totally unsafe

3

6% 5% 2

31%

35%

6% 2

7%
9%

28%

5% 1

6%

32%

24%

2

4% 2

35%

24%

3

5%

10%

38%

60%

Partially unsafe

7%

7%

27%

57%

Catholic

6% 5% 2
9%

18%

49%

Up to 1 MW

Partially safe

30%

61%

Elem. - from 5th to 8th grade

Totally safe

7%

6% 2
9%

4

6%

5% 2

11%

8% 2
7%

5% 2

Didn’t know / Didn’t respond1.2 ATTITUDES ABOUT VACCINES:
POLL FINDINGS IN DETAIL

We observed a positive impact of health professionals and other official
sources of information on perceptions about vaccines. In this poll, the respondents showed more confidence when they had more formal and technical information on the subject.

NÍVEL DE SEGURANÇA DAS VACINAS X
FONTES DE INFORMAÇÃO
BASE
821
836
1365

Health professionals
Government/ Ministry of
Health
Traditional Media

958

Social Networks

860

Friends and family

182

Religious groups

Totally safe

Partially safe

58%

30%

7%

4 1

56%

32%

7%

4 1

55%

31%

49%

36%

49%

34%

47%

Partially unsafe

31%

Totally unsafe

5% 2

9%

5% 1

8%
10%

7% 2
11%

2

Didn’t know / Didn’t respondIt’s critical to note that lack of information, lack of planning and lack ofaccess to health facilities are also critical factors in the vaccination behaviorof those who get informed in social media and messaging apps - 24% said
they had hard access to vaccination posts, 27% said they lacked information about campaigns, and 41% said they forgot about it or lacked planning.
This is a double edged sword -- lack of access to vaccination clinics andvaccination information makes it harder to vaccinate oneself and/or a childin one’s care, and it also makes it harder to fact check any misinformation or
disinformation one comes in contact with.

35

7%

2

PHASE II:ANALYSING THE
MOST COMMONVACCINE-RELATEDMISINFORMATION
ON SOCIAL MEDIA
After our poll showed clear evidence that misinformation about
vaccines was having an influence on Brazilians, Avaaz found theneed to conduct an investigation to uncover what this misinformation looked liked and where it was coming from.

2.1

METHODOLOGYMISINFORMATION DEFINITION:
The definition of misinformation we have used is content that is “incorrect ormisleading information”15. It is important to note that not all anti-vaccination
content (content that put vaccines in a negative light) is considered misinformation. In this report there is a range of content from anti-vaccination
content to content that may be intentionally created to deceive the public.
Given that our investigation did not delve into intent of content creators,
we strictly focused on vaccine misinformation (factually inaccurate content
confirmed as such by SBIm and other credible sources such as certified
independent fact-checkers, the WHO and traditional media) and negative
content on vaccines.

DATE OF FIELD WORK:
Content posted between 2016 and 2019. On Youtube, we included all
videos of significant reach (over 10,000) that had interactions during
the time of study (2016-2019).

SAMPLE AND DATA COLLECTION:The Original Sample -misinformation previously
debunked by fact checking agencies 30 fact-checked articles comprised of:■ 8 vaccine misinformation stories fact-checked by the Brazilian
Ministry of Health website Health Without Fakes (Saúde Sem Fake)- which includes all the fact-checked news on the subject by thisservice;■ 22 vaccine misinformation stories fact-checked by doctor Drauzio
Varella’s website, Lupa, Aos Fatos, Fato ou Fake (G1), Boatos.org,
E-farsas and Uol Confere - which includes all the fact-checked news
on the subject on these pages;

15 https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/misinformation
16 It is impossible to measure the reach of WhatsApp messages due tothe private nature of these conversations.

38

2.1 METHODOLOGY■ We found out that the original misinformation debunked by these 30
fact-checking articles was shared on
multiple platforms: YouTube, Facebook,
WhatsApp, the web itself.

2. We then started growing the numberof Facebook pages and groups, little bylittle. Once we got in contact with a new
anti-vaxx article link, we checked which
other Facebook pages and groups
shared that link and added those pages
to our CrowTangle analysis. In otherwords: each page led us to pages thatshared similar content.

■ TOTAL REACH on social media thatwas possible to measure16: 2.4 million
views on YouTube, 23.5 million views on
Facebook (videos only), 578,000 sharesin Facebook (considering only the main
link, not its various replications).

■ Filtering the results, we selected only
the publications by those pages thatused the word “vaccine”

Facebook pages
Using the social media monitoring platform
CrowdTangle, we monitored 67 Facebook
pages with 944 anti-vaccination posts and
33 Facebook groups with 2,400 anti-vaccination posts - with a total of 3,344 posts
with anti-vaccination content, which generated over 1 million reactions (likes, sharesor comments) since 2016. We fact-checked
10% of this sample randomly and found thatapproximately 84% (83,78%) of it was misinformation. So we have a rough estimate thatthe general content might follow the same
pattern - which means 2,805 posts might
contain misinformation. We identified thesepages and groups in two phases:

YouTube videos
Our sample was 69 YouTube videos on anti-vaccination, all with more than 10,000 views
each, totaling 9.2 million views and 40,000
comments. These are comprised of:■ The videos identified by thefact-checkers in the original sample;■ Videos obtained in a search on the
key word “vaccine” through an incognito
window and selecting those with significant reach (more than 10,000) that had
interactions during the time of study. We
watched each video and found, through afact-checking effort of our own17, that 63
contained misinformation - around 90%.
The other 5 were opinions, real casesof people who believe to be victims ofserious vaccination side-effects and/orinconclusive (because they were taken
offline before we could fact-check.)

1. Selecting pages and groups thatshared at least one of the original 30
misinformation pieces debunked byfact-checkers.

17 We classified each video as misinformation in a manual fact-checking effort of our own.
All the videos were watched by doctors affiliated with SBIm. The criteria used by them is:content that clearly contradicted what was vastly considered to be true by the scientificcommunity and the WHO and/or made accusations that were unfounded or not cited by credible
sources392.1 METHODOLOGY

ArticlesUsing programs developed by us for the purpose of this study, we collected 1,613 links of anti-vaccine articles published in websites. This is
how we got to them:■

We analysed the 3,340 Facebook posts with anti-vaccination
content and selected the 8 websites that we found published and/or produced most of the posts. Our program then made a database with all articles those 8 sites18 ever published with the word
“vaccine”. The result was a database of 1,613 anti-vax articles.

■

This database was already shared with the University of São
Paulo’s (USP) research group “Monitor do Debate Político no Meio
Digital”, who analysed it using the CrowdTangle API. According
to them, what was originally 1,613 articles had a reach of 489,000
shares on Facebook.

■

This database includes title of article, date of publication, category, content, link of each publication and a screenshot of thefull page. Avaaz will make this database available to institutions,scholars and government officials. We hope it will encourage
further studies into the matter and help the government designcommunication campaigns to provide the best and most accurate information for Brazilians.

OTHER METHODS
Journalist methods of investigation, such as interviews with experts andinvolved parties were also used in order to make conclusions.

18 The websites were: A Nova Ordem Mundial, Notícias Naturais,
Coletividade Evolutiva, Sempre Questione, Por Trás da Mídia Mundial,
Verdade Mundial, Prepare for Change (PT) and Info Vacinas.

40

2.2

FINDINGS

We discovered that almost half of the original sample of misinformation analysed (the30 anti-vaccine articles or videos debunked
by Brazilian fact-checkers) was translated
verbatim or based on information originally published abroad in English in the UnitedStates. The website “Natural News” is theoriginal source of 32%19 of our initial sample and represents 69% of the non Brazilian
content in that sample. The other 15 pieces ofcontent were Brazilian-native.
In this process we also found out that vaccine misinformation content travelled throughmultiple social media channels before being
spotted and fact-checked. Sometimes one
piece of misinformation was adapted to different formats in order to fit the platform, fromvideos on YouTube to plain texts on Whatsapp.
This also means that a vast number of people
who saw the content will probably never see
the fact check.
Unfortunately, we found the reach of factchecks is currently low. While Facebook’s
most shared anti-vaccination post in our sample, a video against the HPV vaccine, had almost 20 million views and generated 762,000
reactions, the Health Ministry post saying
the content was misinformation had only 10
shares. Additionally, this video against theHPV vaccine is illustrative for a second reason:
it shows the correction process is occasionally
incomplete and doesn’t actually explain what’sincorrect in the video.
At least half of the 30 misinformation
pieces analysed were shared on WhatsApp,
according to the fact-checking websites, indicating that the app is a relevant source for
spreading anti-vaccination content. However,this is just a glimpse into the problem: it is notpossible to establish all the content that circulated in WhatsApp, nor its reach, due to theprivate, encrypted nature of the conversations
that take place in the app. But there are someindications of how relevant the app is in the
distribution of anti-vaccination content. In only
14 months, for example, the WhatsApp number of the project Health Without Fakes by the
Ministry of Health received 17,530 messagesof people requesting health fact-checks according to them.
“Once the fake news is born, we don’t have
any idea about its tracks on WhatsApp. We
can find the fake news factories, but we can’t
identify all links in its transmission chains on
WhatsApp. We don’t know who is sending,
who is sharing, who is receiving the message,”says Ugo Braga, the Head of Communications
at the Ministry of Health.

19 Analysing the fact-checking articles we found out 3 of them were based on the samemisinformation video. Therefore, 28 different fake-stories were fake-checked in 30
different articles. This percentage was calculated based on the sources of disinfo and not
the articles themselves.

412.2 FINDINGS

From Crowdtangle and YouTube, we gathered that there are certain commonalities thatcharacterize the the groups and webpages
that share vaccine misinformation and/or negative content about vaccines:

Some of the recurring anti-vaccination
misinformation we observed during this investigation included:

Pages that preach that there
is a plan to create a “newworld order”. According to this notion, there is a secret collusion to dominate and control society, with vaccination being part of the plot. From ouranalysis, these were the majority of thesites and groups that spread vaccine
misinformation in Brazil. On Facebook,for example, 2 out of 3 anti-vaccination
posts analysed were published by pages discussing known conspiracies.

B. the belief that mandatory vaccines area secret and evil plan by the “newworld order” to dominate society;“Healthy lifestyle”, “Natural
lifestyle” and “Alternative
Medicine” thematic pages thatsell products side by sidewith articles about the negative effects of vaccines.

F. arguments that vaccines harm the body,while therapies and natural products
would be the true way to prevent
disease;Groups where people sharetestimonies of bad experiences about vaccines, defend
that the body should find its own way
to build up immunity and that people
should have the freedom to choose
whether to be vaccinated or not - theseappear to have a smaller reach.

H. beliefs that diseases were alreadydiminishing before vaccines werewidespread;

A. real and rare cases of serious side-effects or death following vaccination;

C. relationships between vaccines andautism;D. allegations that harmful metals suchas mercury are present in vaccines inhigh dosage;
E. claims that vaccines are an attempt tocontrol the world population that has
been already confessed by Bill Gates;

G. the argument that elites and doctors do
not vaccinate their children;

I. and, cases of supposed doctors who
have confessed “the truth” about how
dangerous vaccines really are.

It is important to stress that the link between
anti-vaccination content and conspiracy theories is not unique to Brazil. International studies
indicate that this is also the case in many countries, from the United States and the United
Kingdom to Pakistan and Nigeria.

422.2 FINDINGSThe anti-vaccination content analysed had
a long life on the internet. Many of the messages debunked by the Ministry of Health orfact-checking agencies were first published on
the web over two years ago - in some cases
they date from four or five years ago and were
published in another country (please, see section “below on the path of misinformation for
more details). In fact, one of the most viewed
anti-vaccination videos on Facebook from oursample is from 2010.
Another feature of antivax content thatcomes from abroad is that after being published in Portuguese, it is often replicatedword by word on multiple pages or channels
on YouTube. So, the exact same content canbe found on more than one page - in fact, oneof the pieces of misinformation analyzed was
published on seven different websites. This
will be described with more details below.
Ugo Braga, the Head of Communications
at the Ministry of Health views these two phenomena as conducted by two sorts of people:“I would split them into two large anti-vaccine
groups. First, there are the people who believethat a well-nourished human body do not succumb to disease. It gets sick, makes antibodies
and heals. So nobody needs a vaccine. TheseI call the ‘anti-vaccine in good faith’ group.
Equally dangerous, but in good faith - whichmeans, basically, that they believe in theseideas. And there is a second anti-vaccine
group, ‘in bad faith’, these are the horror movie
villains. They believe in one big lie - vaccines
are the product that the political establishment
wants to use to reduce the world’s population.
And because they believe that, they keep making up lies to say that vaccines are a bad thing.
People who get this information have no idea

what the source of those lies is. And the source
is usually crazy, the motivation of the message
is crazy. But without knowing the motivation(or the source), only the message, the receiverends up believing it.”
Additionally, we found Facebook pages that deal exclusively with anti-vaccine
topics have little engagement - the top five
pages of this kind analysed by us accounted for only 8,400 interactions since 2016.
In contrast, anti-vaccination posts on wider
subject matter pages, from healthy-living toknown conspiracy theories, have accumulated nearly 1 million reactions on anti-vaccination posts during this same period.

43

2.3

A CONNECTED UNIVERSE
OF ANTI-VACCINATIONSITES AND PAGES
Avaaz shared the 1,613 anti-vaccine articles gathered on the web
with the University of São Paulo’s (USP) research group “Monitor do
Debate Político no Meio Digital”, who analysed it using the CrowdTangle API. According to them, the articles were shared by 381 different
Facebook pages or groups, in a total of 489,000 shares. Using this information, the research group has also created a diagram (see below) of the relationship between the sites and the Facebook pages.
The diagram shows five main ecosystems, organized around the main websites: Sempre Questione; A Nova Ordem Mundial; Notícias Naturais; Coletividade Evolutiva; Verdade Mundial. A Nova Ordem Mundial and NotíciasNaturais are very close to each other, meaning they share content. Sempre
Questione is the most shared webpage, connected with the Facebook page“Conspiração Global”. The Facebook group “O Lado Obscuro da Vacina”, despite not being so influential, connects all the ecosystems.

Source: Márcio Moretto /Monitor do Debate Político
no Meio Digital / Universityof São Paulo

44

2.4

THE PATHMISINFORMATION ON
VACCINES TAKES

Below, we detail how we traced the origin of three misinformation pieces
from our original sample. They were chosen randomly from the sample.

1) 10 REASONS WHY YOU SHOULDN’TVACCINATE YOUR CHILDREN(736 shares on Facebook and impossible to measure reach on WhatsApp)
US websites (VacTruth and Natural News) → Brazilian website (Notícias Naturais) → Facebook pages (Notícias Naturais, Pensadores contra oSistema and O lado obscuro das vacinas) → Whatsapp → Ministry of Health
Our research traced the first instance of this post to VacTruth in the
USA on December 12th 2014, under the title “10 Reasons Not To Vaccinate”. The text is signed by Michelle Goldstein, who defines herself as a“clinical social worker who is passionate about holistic health and healing,” who writes “for two major, highly respected holistic health websites,”- VacTruth and Natural News.
Three days after its publication by VacTruth on December 15th 2014, Michelle Goldstein’s “10 reasons” went through small changes in words andparagraph order and was published on the Natural News website, titled “10reasons why you shouldn’t vaccinate your children”. This time the content
was signed by Ethan A. Huff, who has a long list of anti-vaccination articles on several US sites.
In Brazil, searches in different platforms indicate that the content was
first published on February 3rd 2015 (therefore 53 days after its publication on VacTruth) on Notícias Naturais titled “10 Reasons Why You
Shouldn’t Vaccinate Your Children.” The article is a literal translationof the Natural News version, without mistakes, which indicates that it is
not an automated translation.

45

2.4 THE PATH MISINFORMATIONON VACCINES TAKES

The link published by Notícias Naturais was then shared by three Facebook pages between 2015 and 2019: “Notícias Naturais”, “Pensadores contra o Sistema (Thinkers Against the System)” and “O lado obscuro das vacinas (The Dark Side of Vaccines)”. In addition, the text was reproduced on atleast seven other sites and ended up in WhatsApp.
03/02/2015 - http://forum.noticiasnaturais.com/
03/02/2015 - http://forum.antinovaordemmundial.com/
03/02/2015 - https://curaquanticaenergeticaespiritual
23/05/2015 - https://aumagic.blogspot.com/
23/05/2015 - https://longidade.blogspot.com/
24/05/2015 - https://oavisodedeus.blogspot.com/
27/04/2016 - https://a-nova-realidade.blogspot.com/
20/09/2016 - https://sejasaudaveloutravez.blogspot.com(short and modified version of the text)
On February 5th 2019, the Ministry of Health fact-checked a WhatsApp
text, labeling it as misinformation: “10 reasons why you should not vaccinate
your child is misinformation”.

2) MANDATORY VACCINATION WHAT’S BEHIND IT?
(1,100 shares on Facebook)

US website “Natural News” → blog “Um novo despertar”→ the religious
book “Os Ceifadores XV” → Jaime Bruning’s website → several blogs including Rainha Maria → Ministry of Health
In 2012, Mike Adams, editor of Natural News, wrote the article “The Great
Culling has begun: Will your genetic lineage survive?”. The Brazilian blog
“A New Awakening” (Um Novo Despertar) translated it and republished it.
Then, a book called "The Grim Reapers XV - The Prophecies for the Times
Now" (Os Ceifadores XV - As profecias para os tempos de agora), from a
Christian sect of Santa Catarina cited an excerpt of the text from this blog.
On March 4th 2016, Jaime Bruning's website published a text signed
by Jaime himself referring to this book. In the material, Bruning, who calls
himself a “natural therapist”, states that “A NEW WORLD ORDER is beingorganized” with “the use of vaccines”. “Those who routinely take vaccines
are naturally stupid. Eliminating stupid people - or useless mouths from thegenetic leap is one of the goals of global controllers. Thus vaccination pro-46

2.4 THE PATH MISINFORMATIONON VACCINES TAKES

paganda serves as the perfect filter to remove ‘stupid’ genes fromhuman genetic leap. This is undoubtedly the reason why globalists
push vaccines so aggressively towards low-income families and theelderly.” This year, the post has been removed from Jaime Bruning’s
website, but can still be accessed through web archives: “Mandatory
Vaccines - What’s Behind It?”
Next, the text was copied on several blogs. Among them, at
Rainha Maria - the site that was eventually debunked by the Ministryof Health on September 3rd: “Compulsory Vaccines: What’s Behind It?
Are they reliable? ”

3) VACCINES STILL CAUSE AUTISMAND GOVERNMENTS KNOW IT (63SHARES ON FACEBOOK)
US website “GreenMedInfo” → Brazilian website “Prepare For
Change”→ several blogs including “Senhora de Sirius” and “Infovacinas” → Ministry of HealthOn September 24th 2018, the Ministry of Health warned that the
text “New vaccines still cause autism and governments know it”
was misinformation.
Our research traced the first instance of this post to February 10th
2017, in the US website GreenMedInfo, titled “New Vaccines Still
Cause Autism and the U.S. Government Knows It.” It was then copied
to several other US sites.
On March 21st 2017, the same text was published in Portugueseby the site “Prepare For Change”: “As Novas Vacinas ainda causam
Autismo e os Governos Sabem” (New Vaccines Still Cause Autism andGovernments Know). “Prepare For Change’s” self declared goal is toprepare for the “Event” of planetary liberation.
In addition to “Prepare for Change”, other sites also published thetext in Portuguese: Senhora de Sirius and Infovacinas. Finally, the text
was fact-checked by the Ministry of Health.

47

2.5

EXAMPLES OF THE MOST
COMMON OUTLETS AND CONTENT

ON FACEBOOK:

Since 2016 we found that the pages and groups that have generated the most engagement on their misinformation or anti-vax content amongst our sample include:
1) Crusade For Freedom (Cruzada Pela Liberdade) - 762,000 interactions / 350,000 followers;
2) Group The Dark Side of Vaccines (O Lado Obscuro das Vacinas) 64,000 interactions / 13,000 members / over 1,970 posts;3) Against New World Order (Contra Nova Ordem Mundial) - 54,000
interactions / 22,000 followers;
4) Global Conspiracy (Conspiração Global) - 53,000 interactions /719,000 followers;5) Natural News (Notícias Naturais) - 16,000 interactions / 119,000 followers;
6) World Truth (Verdade Mundial) - 11,000 interactions / 182,000 followers.
Among them, the only public groups is The Dark Side of Vaccines (O Lado
Obscuro das Vacinas). It was created in 2017, and it appears to be managed
by a woman who claims to be from the Brazilian State of Maranhão who lives
in Europa. It appears the same woman also manages an older group, Sou
contra a Vacina HPV (In English, I’m against the HPV vaccine). Avaaz sent a
message asking for an interview with her, but we didn’t receive a response.

Screenshot of the mostshared, viewed and commented
antivax post on Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/
cruzadapelaliberdade/posts/1217874621652070(Archived link:
http://archive.is/jQYZg)

48

2.5 EXAMPLES OF THE MOST
COMMON OUTLETS AND CONTENT

Screenshot of the post with more interactions in thegroup “O Lado Obscuro das Vacinas”, as of December 3, 2018https://www.facebook.com/groups/1541114232797859/permalink/2188486844727258

Post of the administratorof the “O Lado Oculto da
Vacina” group raisingsuspicions against
vaccines https://www.facebook.com/
groups/1541114232797859/
permalink/2402967426612531(Archive link:
http://archive.is/boF67)

49

2.5 EXAMPLES OF THE MOST
COMMON OUTLETS AND CONTENTON YOUTUBE:
We observed that anti-vaccination content is getting more traction online in
the past three years. From the 69 videos with significant reach we identified
on YouTube, for example, 75% were published since 2017. This means that
7.5 million out of 9.2 million views are from recent videos.
The most popular anti-vaccination videos we identified in Brazil arefrom Jaime Bruning. Among all the 69 videos analysed by Avaaz, the two
Bruning videos we analyzed were the only ones with over one million views.
In addition to being successful on YouTube, at least one of his videos wasshared on WhatsApp - as reported by the Ministry of Health when it classified it as misinformation.
Another prominent anti-vaccination channel on YouTube is Science ofTruth. The channel has 20 anti-vaccination videos with over 10,000 views
each. In total, they add up to 1.3 million views and 14,000 comments. Science of Truth also has a series of videos claiming that the earth is flat. Other
YouTubers with prominent anti-vaccination videos are Romulus Maraschin
and Evangelists of the Apocalypse (recently removed by YouTube).
In addition, some of the videos are monetized, with advertisements running alongside the content. It is possible the brands running these ads areunaware that they are sponsoring anti-vaccination content and/or misinformation. We spotted automobile company Hyundai and phone company
Vivo, for example, as two prominent brands running ads alongside anti-vax information, as shown in the images below.

50

2.5 EXAMPLES OF THE MOST
COMMON OUTLETS AND CONTENT

Screenshot - 18th October 2019

Screenshot - 22nd October 201951

2.5 EXAMPLES OF THE MOST
COMMON OUTLETS AND CONTENTSPOTLIGHT ON NOTICIAS NATURAIS:
THE LARGEST PRODUCER OF ANTI-VACCINATION CONTENT ON FACEBOOK & THE WEB:
Among our original sample, the page that we found to be producing
the largest amount of anti-vaccination content (both with Facebook posts
and website articles) in Brazil was www.noticiasnaturais.com. According toa review of the site, Notícias Naturais published more than 400 different
anti-vaccination content pieces over a decade (between 2009 and 2019).
In the last 12 months alone there have been 61 stories - on average 5 permonth. The site translates much of its anti-vaccination content from US
sites, primarily from www.naturalnews.com, and calls itself a news outlet
for healthy living and promotion of the use of natural products. On Facebook, Notícias Naturais has 119,000 followers.
Notícias Naturais is also linked to the “New World Order” and a “natural
products” store, as we will show in the next section.
Other sites that stand out in the production of anti-vaccination content
in Brazil are:https://www.coletividade-evolutiva.com.br/
http://www.semprequestione.com/
https://portrasmidiamundiall.blogspot.com/
https://verdademundial.com.br
https://pt.prepareforchange.net/

52

Screenshot
7th November 201953

3

PHASE III:UNCOVERING
WHO IS BEHIND
ANTI-VACCINECONTENT AND
MISINFORMATIONCASE STUDY ONE MIKE ADAMS & THE AMERICANWEBSITE NATURAL NEWSOne of the most widely known anti-vaccination content websites is the the American
Natural News website by Mike Adams, which
had 3 million followers in June of 201920. Natural News had its reach reduced on Google in2017 and vanished entirely from Facebook in
2019, two months after the platform “vowed to
crack down on pages that spread medical misinformation—such as anti-vaccination content—
by reducing the distribution of such pages in the
Facebook news feed.”21 YouTube and Twitter
have also removed Natural News’s accounts22.
However, Natural News’ articles are still
being translated into Portuguese and widely distributed in Brazil23.Natural News is theoriginal source of 32% of the anti-vaccine
content debunked in Brazil.
It was created by Mike Adams in 2003 andalso seems in our analysis to have inspired
several Brazilian copycat websites. Its main focus is the promotion of “alternative” medicine
and the fight against science-based medicine- vaccines are among its main enemies. In ad-

dition to disputing the science behind vaccinations, Adams also sells alternative treatments
and products in the site’s online store.
In addition to content about “health” andnatural living, Natural News publishes articles
denying global warming, opposing transgenders, “globalism” and the United Nations. The
New York Times has already defined Adams
as “a right-wing blogger who is known for his
promotion of pseudoscientific conspiracy theories”. In the extensive biography of Adams
published in Natural News, he is presented as
an investigative journalist, director of a scientific laboratory and a programmer.
Next to articles with tips for a “healthy” lifestyle, Natural News publishes alleged stories
praising the products that it sells24. Over thelast month it published around 15 articles a day.
It includes a mixture of benign articles about
natural foods and remedies, political opinion/commentary, and misinformation. Below, you
can find a mix of links to different kinds of articles from Natural News as of October 9, 2019:20 https://www.fastcompany.com/90361870/natural-news-vanished-from-facebook-calls-tech-ceosevil
21 Ibid
22 Google, YouTube, Facebook and Twitter didn’t specify the reasons for reducing the reachof Natural News or even blocking the site’s accounts
23 https://gizmodo.com/natural-news-suspended-on-facebook-founder-calls-for-p-1835367529
24 Here you can find the search page for “goji berry”, with numerous stories about its
benefits: https://www.naturalnews.com/SearchResults.asp?query=goji+berries&pr=NN. In
Natural News homepage there is a banner to buy goji berries, that directs to this link:
https://www.naturalnews.com/WBA-4728.html

56

CASE STUDY ONE - MIKE ADAMS & THE
AMERICAN WEBSITE NATURAL NEWSIn response to the loss of reach on Google
and social media, Adams accused the platforms of censoring Natural News as part of a
global conspiracy. “Silencing Natural News is
all part of the globalist “script” for the enslavement of a population kept ignorant of reality(...) In effect, censorship of Natural News is partof the establishment’s war on humanity which
includes depopulation measures (Bill Gates),covert infertility vaccines, corporate-run media
disinfo campaigns and a full-on assault against
scientific truth and free speech conducted in
the public interest,” Adams wrote on February
22, 2017 (archive link: http://archive.is/DZ1So).
In addition, Adams is trying to promote apublic “diaspora” to its own communication
channels. He has created Natural News’ ownsocial network, search engine and wiki. He
also promotes the use of Gab (the far-right social network) instead of Twitter and Brighteon
instead of YouTube.

- Why you should drink more ginger
turmeric tea: Facts, benefits- Useful AND pretty: 5 Health benefits ofparsley that prove it’s more than just a
garnish- Cannibalism gone mainstream: Parents
who agree with vaccines are injecting
their children with the COMPLETE humangenome of another dead baby
- China is killing ethnic minorities in orderto harvest their organs, but globalists say
America is bad for using plastic straws

Post on Natural News,on March 08, 2019(archive link:
http://archive.fo/4NgR3)

57

CASE STUDY TWO NOTICIAS NATURAIS:
THE BRAZILIAN
NATURAL NEWS
Among the anti-vaccine Facebook pages monitored by Avaaz, NotíciasNaturais (in English, Natural News) stands out as the one that posted themost content since 2016 - 108 articles. In addition, the database set up by
Avaaz points out that among the eight main anti-vaccine sites assessed,
Notícias Naturais was the site that most used the word “vaccine”. In total,
there were 473 different articles, with 7,350 mentions of “vaccine”.

Counting - Sum of Vaccine Cites
Green bars show the number of times the word “vaccine” appears ineach site’s posts. Blue bars show the number of different links
with the word “vaccine”.

58

CASE STUDY TWO - NOTICIAS NATURAIS:
THE BRAZILIAN NATURAL NEWSOn Facebook and on the web, Notícias Naturais is the main producerof Brazilian anti-vaccine content identified by Avaaz. And they are not only
named after Natural News, but also publish word-by-word translations of
the site’s articles - and also seems to sell products and cures alongside
their content as Natural News does.
Notícias Naturais presents itself as a healthy lifestyle page with the “aimof disseminating information and news that is important to our health, information that is often suppressed by the billionaire pharmaceutical market that wants to keep their high profits”. The site has only one fixed advertiser: the online store Tudo Saudável (All Healthy) with headquarters in
Florianópolis. Avaaz’s investigation found evidence that indicates NotíciasNaturais’s editor or forum admin may have a business arrangement with
Tudo Saudavel and is receiving profits from the sale of its featured productson the Naturais site.

Screenshot of Notícias Naturais’s post about the benefits of“Chiorella”, followed by the link to buy the product on Tudo
Saudável’s store.

59

CASE STUDY TWO - NOTICIAS NATURAIS:
THE BRAZILIAN NATURAL NEWS

There are also several indications that the Noticias Naturais page is managed as a network with Anti Nova Ordem Mundial (in English, Anti New
World Order) to boost each other’s content: on the “about” section of thewebsite, Notícias Naturais is listed as an associated site.

Screenshot of theAnti-New World
Order page, with
Tudo Saudável
advertisements andicon for NotíciasNaturais and
Notícias Naturais
Fórum associatedsites
http://archive.
is/71X70

Both sites started posting in April 2009. Out of the 473 vaccine news
items published by Notícias Naturais, 203 were also published under thesame title at Anti Nova Ordem Mundial. In addition, many of the articles areposted on both Facebook pages within minutes of each other. On September 10, 2014, for example, the two pages posted a long text against the HPV
vaccine. At Notícias Naturais, the posting took place at 10:00 am, and had
612 shares. At Anti Nova Ordem Mundial, at 10:05 am the exact same post
was published, with 88 shares. The reach of Notícias Naturais is much higher - 119,000 followers, against 39,000 for Anti Nova Ordem Mundial - but it
appears there is coordinated behavior happening here.
60

CASE STUDY TWO - NOTICIAS NATURAIS:
THE BRAZILIAN NATURAL NEWS

Captura de telada publicação
do NotíciasNaturais no
Facebook, em
10 de setembrode 2014, às 10h
http://archive.
is/3hDpC

Captura de telade publicação
do Anti Nova
Ordem Mundial no
Facebook, em 10
de setembro de2014, às 10h05
http://archive.
is/cYjAd

61

CASE STUDY TWO - NOTICIAS NATURAIS:
THE BRAZILIAN NATURAL NEWS

Another indication that the pages are likely part of a coordinated network is that they both have discussion forums, equipped withthe same technology and layout. The administrator of both forums is
also the same, and presents himself as the “creator, founder and administrator of the Anti-NOM Forum and the blog Anti Nova Ordem
Mundial”. Lastly, our investigation found that Nova Ordem Mundial has the same sole advertiser as Noticias Naturais: Tudo Saudável.

Screenshot of the
profile of theadministrator of
the Anti-Nova
Ordem Mundial
Forum, in which hesays, that he is“creator, founder
and administrator of
the Anti-NOM Forumand the Anti Nova
Ordem Mundial blog”
http://archive.
is/3hDpC

Screenshot of the
profile of theadministrator of
the Anti-Nova Ordem
Mundial Forum, inwhich he says, that heis “creator, founder
and administrator of
the Anti-NOM Forumand the Anti Nova
Ordem Mundial blog”
http://archive.
is/3hDpC

62

CASE STUDY THREE JAIME BRUNING:
BRAZIL’S ANTI-VAX
YOUTTUBE STAR
Our analysis of anti-vaccine videos on Brazilian YouTube showed thatthe most popular figure is Jaime Bruning. Bruning presents himself as aprofessor who produces and spreads content about natural and healthy
lifestyles. Together, his videos with messages against vaccination (published on his own channel or replicated in other channels) have more than
3 million views. The only Brazilian anti-vaccine videos that surpassed the 1
million-view-threshold in our Youtube sample are his.
In one of his videos, Bruning looks at the camera and says: “The vaccines. It’s another thing that we have to be extremely careful about. Getting
vaccinated can be a big danger. Do you think what I’m talking about isweird? Then pay attention. A new world order is emerging. (...) A great extermination will happen in the world. Everything is prepared. (...) There are 3
powerful weapons to achieve this goal. Forcing the population to eat transgenic food, drink water with fluoride, and vaccinating the people. It has toterminate the weak, the poor, the old, the ugly, the stupid. So they say. And
those who get vaccinated regularly are the stupid ones, they say. They’re
putting cancer viruses, cancer fungus in vaccines”.
In the video, Bruning also recommends that people replace the yellow
fever vaccine for a tea made of cabbage, apple, garlic, lemon and honey.
And he closes by advertising his own book: “I have a book called A Saúde
Brota da Natureza (in English, The Health Sprouts of Nature) (...) This bookgives an overview (...) then it moves on to the practical part: causes, symptoms and treatments of diseases. An infinity of diseases (...) Treatment is always with water, plants, clay, exercises, right food… the result is spectacular
by just sticking to the natural. This book is on the internet, you can buy it”.
On Jaime Bruning’s website, the book “A Saúde Brota da Natureza”, firstpublished in 1984, is sold at prices ranging from 67 to 97 BRL (17 to 24
USD). “Achieve the Best Health in the World with Natural Therapies! Tested
and approved by thousands of people!”, says the book’s ad. The site also
sells “remote bioenergetic treatments,” for 110 BRL (about 30 USD). Bruning
claims to be able to identify diseases and select “the right treatments” withteas, clay, charcoal, food and baths - all sold by him.

63

CASE STUDY THREE - JAIME BRUNING:
BRAZIL’S ANTI-VAX YOUTTUBE STAR

In recent years, Bruning also began to disseminate messages from theconservative Christian sect “Reapers” of the Brazilian state of Santa Catarina, whose doctrinal books also address the “new world order” and anti-vaccine content - including translations of Natural News.

Subtitles for the image: A Saúde Brota da Natureza (in English,
The Health Sprouts of Nature) - Natural solution for more than 200
diseases. E-book on natural treatments by Prof. Jaime Bruning. The
industry will do anything to prevent you from seeing this video. Prog.
Jaime Bruning 2019
Screenshot of the video in which Jaime Bruning speaks against theyellow fever vaccine, with more than 1 million views; in the end, headvertises his book.

64

CASE STUDY FOUR COLETIVIDADE EVOLUTIVA(EVOLUTIONARY COLLECTIVITY)
After Notícias Naturais and its partner site A
Nova Ordem Mundial, Coletividade Evolutiva
is the website that we saw publishing the mostanti-vaccine content - more than 200 different
links. It is also filled with automatic ads, besides
having a special call for new advertisers: “Coletividade Evolutiva has now advertisement opportunities for qualified advertisers. Check thefollowing information to access which option isbetter for your business”. In addition, Coletividade Evolutiva asks for donations: “Support
independent journalism by Coletividade Evolutiva”. The site appears to be registered under
the name of Fabio Alves Pereira.
When it comes to vaccines, one of the mostcommon topics is on how vaccination is used byelites to decrease the world’s population. For example, an article titled “The proof that vaccines
are being used to cause infertility in women all
around the world: document reveals which infertility chemical is secretly put into vaccines”, fromFebruary 2018, says: “I explain how the chemical ‘weaponizes the wombs’ of black women,
turning the bodies of mothers into biologicalweapons against their own unborn children…”.
The narrator in this case is not from Coletividade
Evolutiva, but Mike Adams from Natural News
himself. The article was translated from Natural
News only one day after its publication.
Another similarity with Natural News’s website is that when you first access its homepage,a pop up window says: “They are trying to shut
us up. The giants of the internet, tech platforms
and big media are trying to shut up the independent voices that try to show you the truth
about toxic food, dangerous medicines andfailed and fraudulent science from a medical
system dedicated only to profit. Subscribe inorder to save our precious content”.

Screenshot of Coletividade Evolutiva’s pop
up window saying “They are trying to shut
us up. Subscribe not to lose our precious
content”

Screenshot of Natural News’ pop up
window asking to subscribe: “100% real,
uncensored health news”.

65FINAL CONCLUSIONS
We are living in an epidemic of vaccine misinformation in Brazil. It is
no exaggeration: if any disease infected 7 out of 10 Brazilians we would
call it exactly that.
Like an epidemic, this virus only spreads because it finds a host whose
defenses are weak - the different platforms of social media - and it spreads
infecting other hosts. Misinformation travels from websites to Facebook,YouTube, and Instagram and hides itself in the privacy of Whatsapp.
We fight a misinformation epidemic in the same way we fight a regular one: by making medicine and treatment available and stopping thevectors of the disease. In this case, reliable information is the medicine
that counteracts the infection - seeing corrections online for inaccurate
information, mainstreaming reliable communication campaigns on vaccines online and in print, and having access to doctors, clinics and othertrustworthy medical support.
Data analysis also indicates that the vaccine misinformation epidemic in Brazil is not only a Brazilian problem alone. It is a global issue andcan be most effectively addressed with a global strategy. Much of thecontent spread in Brazil is translated or based on information originallypublished abroad, in English, mostly in the United States. Further research needs to be done to assess the impact of vaccine misinformationin the global south, since it seems to be a relatively new phenomenon
here. This study is not final but an invitation for more research, more
public conversations, and more action.
The misinformation discussion is often mired in political partisanship.
Misinformation about our health and public safety, however, is not partisan,it’s about our lives. This is a public health crisis that can be fixed, but only ifgovernments and social media platforms work together to contain the misinformation epidemic that is ravaging Brazil.

67

ABOUT AVAAZ
Avaaz’s anti-misinformation team plans to detect, make public and deter misinformation on social networks and releasestudies internationally similar to those it conducted in the lead
up to the EU elections here:https://secure.avaaz.org/campaign/
en/disinfo_network_report/.
Avaaz reports openly on what it finds, so it can alert and educate social media platforms, regulators, and the public, and so it
can more effectively advocate for smart solutions to defend theintegrity of elections, our democracies and public health information from misinformation.
This report aims in part to investigate, analyze, and expose
misinformation on social media. The report summarizes an investigation to: identify and track misinformation content on social media to assess its reach/impact; identify and track groups/
channels in order to urge platforms and governments to investigate and take action.

68

ANNEX

69

ANNEX I:
LIST OF 30 FACT-CHECKED ARTICLES ABOUTVACCINES, PRODUCED BY THE MINISTRY OF
HEALTH OR BRAZILIAN FACT-CHECK AGENCIES
FAKE NEWSWHO FACTLINK TO-CHECKED IT FACT-CHECKBRAZILIAN
SOURCEFOREIGN
SOURCEFOLLOWING
THE TRACKREACH

MPF proibe
vacina contra
HPV

Ministério da
Saúde

https://www.
facebook.com/
cruzadapelaliberdade/posts/121787­
46216­52070-

BrazilFacebook: 19.9
million views

Vacina contra
HPV causa
paralisia nosadolescentes

Uol Confere

https://www.
facebook.
com/47717­
619908­0970/
posts/­13599­
2291­0806­290-

BrazilFacebook: 3.6
million views

Vídeo Jaime
Bruning
vacina faz mal(sentado 9’20’’)

Ministério da
Saúde

https://www.
YouTube.com/
watch?v=SzSc1Dv2QQg&list=PLpzOIVgzGEjhfnzW8H0dIhAS3jaN8Zxgi&index=3

https://www.
naturalnews.
com/036756_
depopulation_
agenda_eugenics_survivor.html

US website
Natural News→
Brazilian blog
(Um novo
despertar) →Brazilian religious book (OsCeifadores XV)→ Brazilian YouTube channel(Jaime Bruning)→ Debunked by
the Ministry of
HealthYouTube: 1.1
million views(3 different
channels)Muita atenção!
A OrdemMundial estámatando a
população
com as vacinaspara reduzir
a população
como eles
queremBoatoshttps://www.
YouTube.com/
watch?v=SzSc1Dv2QQg&list=PLpzOIVgzGEjhfnzW8H0dIhAS3jaN8Zxgi&index=3

https://www.
naturalnews.
com/036756_
depopulation_
agenda_eugenics_survivor.html

US website
Natural News→ Brazilian
blog (Um novo
despertar) →Brazilian religious book (OsCeifadores XV)→ Brazilian YouTube channel(Jaime Bruning)→ Debunked by
Boatos.org

YouTube: 1.1
million views(3 different
channels)

http://www.
saude.gov.
br/fakenews/
44143-mpf-proibe-vacina-contra-hpv-fake-news
https://noticias.uol.com.
br/confere/
ultimas-noticias/2017/12/06/
vacina-de-hpv-pode-causar-paralisia-ela-pode-passar-o-virus.htm
http://www.
saude.gov.
br/fakenews/
45153-vacina-faz-mal-fake-news

https://www.boatos.org/saude/vacinas-reduzem-populacao-virus-cancer.
html

70

FAKE NEWSWHO FACTLINK TO-CHECKED IT FACT-CHECKBRAZILIAN
SOURCEFOREIGN
SOURCEFOLLOWING
THE TRACKREACH

Vacina do
H1N1 destroi
imunidade das
pessoas e dá
câncerBoatoshttps://www.
YouTube.com/
watch?v=SzSc1Dv2QQg&list=PLpzOIVgzGEjhfnzW8H0dIhAS3jaN8Zxgi&index=3

https://www.
naturalnews.
com/036756_
depopulation_
agenda_eugenics_survivor.html

US website
Natural News→ Brazilian
blog (Um novo
despertar) →Brazilian religious book (OsCeifadores XV)→ Brazilian YouTube channel(Jaime Bruning)→ Debunked by
Boatos.org

YouTube: 1.1
million views(3 different
channels)Bill Gates dizque vacinas
servem paraesterelizar,
matar e reduzir
a população
mundialBoatoshttps://www.
YouTube.com/
watch?v=o6MQ8QIsy6w&list=PLpzOIVgzGEjhfnzW8H0dIhAS3jaN8Zxgi&index=4

https://www.
naturalnews.
com/029911_
vaccines_bill_gates.html

US website
Natural News→ Brazilian
YouTube channel (Rômulo
Maraschin) →Debunked by
Boatos.org

YouTube:841.000 views

https://www.
YouTube.com/
watch?v=aFiin6Es3Pk

https://www.
stopmandatoryvaccination.
com/

US website (StopMandatory
Vaccination)→ Brazilian YouTube channel(Evangelistas
do Apocalipse)→ Debunked by
the Ministry of
HealthYouTube:400.000 views

http://www.semprequestione.
com/2016/04/
urgente-depois-de-vacinarem-48-milhoes.
html#.WF7A_
PkrLIUhttps://www.
naturalnews.
com/045418_
flu_shots_influenza_vaccines_mercury.
html

US website Natural News, on
the flu vaccine→ Brazilian website (Por Tras
Midia Mundiall)→ More than 10
blogs in Brazil →Shorter version
published ona different
Brazilian website (Sempre
Questione) →New version onsocial media
replacing the
flu vaccine
for the yellow
fever vaccine →Debunked by
É Fato ou Fake
(G1)

Facebook:
206.000 sharesin “Sempre
Questione”’
website60 médicos
Ministério daamericanos
Saúde
diz ao mundonão tomem
o veneno davacina da morte
febre amarela

Depois devacinarem 40
mi de pessoas
descobriramque VACINADA FEBRE
AMARELA É
UM VENENOMORTAL.

G1

https://www.boatos.org/saude/vacina-h1n1-destroi-imunidade-cancer.html

https://www.boatos.org/saude/bill-gates-vacinas-reduzir-populacao.html

http://www.
saude.gov.
br/fakenews/
44129-vacina-febre-amarela

http://especiais.g1.globo.
com/fato-ou-fake/2018/banco-de-boatos/#!/vacina-de-febre-amarela-e-veneno-mortal-fake71FAKE NEWSWHO FACTLINK TO-CHECKED IT FACT-CHECKBRAZILIAN
SOURCEFOREIGN
SOURCEFOLLOWING
THE TRACKREACH

Veneno mortal:
vacina da gripe
tem mercúrio
superior
25.000 vezeso nível máximo
permitido enão há ensaios
controlados

Boatoshttps://portrasmidiamundiall.
blogspot.
com/2015/05/a-vacina-da-gripe-tem-mercurio-superior.html

https://www.
naturalnews.
com/045418_
flu_shots_influenza_vaccines_mercury.
html

US website
Natural News→
Brazilian website (Por Tras
Midia Mundiall)→ More than 10
blogs in Brazil →Shorter version
on a different
Brazilian website (Sempre
Questione)→ 4 different
versions spreadthrought at least 18 websites
and blogs →Debunked by
Boatos.org

Facebook:
148.000 sharesin “Libertar”
websiteMédicos que
descobriram
enzimas docâncer em
vacinas são
encontrados
mortosBoatoshttps://www.
naturalnews.
com/050553_
Dr_Bradstreet_GcMAF_cancer_therapy.
html

US website
Natural News→ Brazilian website (Sempre
Questione) →Debunked by
Boatos.org

Facebook:
101.000 shares

Médico quebrao silêncio: “Avacina contraa gripe é o queestá causando
um surto mortal
de gripe”

Lupa

https://www.
semprequestione.
com/2018/05/
medicos-que-descobriram-enzimas-do.
html

http://archive.is/
nmccH

US website(Your NewsWire) → Brazilian website (Sempre
Questione) →Debunked by
Lupa

Facebook:
68.000 sharesO zika vírus
foi criado epatenteado
pela família
Rockefeller e
seu objetivo ématar milhões
de pessoas,
além de lucrar
com a venda devacinas.

Aos Fatos

https://web.
archive.org/
web/2016020­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­3091029/
http://www.
conspiracyclub.
co/2016/02/02/
zika-virus-rockefeller/

US website(ConspiracyClub) → Brazilian website (Sempre
Questione) →Debunked by
Aos Fatos

Facebook:
51.000 shares

https://www.boatos.org/saude/alerta-falso-vacina-contra-a-gripe-tem-nivel-de-mercurio-letal.
html

https://www.boatos.org/saude/
medicos-enzimas-cancer-vacinas-mortos.
html
https://piaui.
folha.uol.com.
br/lupa/2018/­
05/15/­verificamossurto-gripevacina/

http://www.semprequestione.
com/2018/04/
medico-vacina-contra-gripe-alerta.html

https://aosfatos.
org/noticias/virus-zika-nao-foi-criado-pelos-rockefeller-nao-tem-patente-e-nao-gera-lucro-com-vacinas/

http://www.semprequestione.
com/2016/02/o-zika-virus-foi-criado-e-patenteado.html

72FAKE NEWSWHO FACTLINK TO-CHECKED IT FACT-CHECKUma jovem de
17 anos morreu
por causa davacina da febre
amarela?

E-farsas

Vacinasobrigatórias: oque há por trás
disso? Elas são
confiáveis?

Ministério da
Saúde

10 razões pelas
quais nãodeveria vacinar
seu filho

Ministério da
Saúde

http://www.e-farsas.com/
uma-jovem-de-17-anos-morreu-por-causa-da-vacina-da-febre-amarela.
html

http://www.
saude.gov.
br/fakenews/
44248-vacinas-obrigatorias-o-que-ha-por-tras-disso-elas-sao-confiaveis

http://www.
saude.gov.
br/fakenews/
45183-10-razoes-pelas-quais-nao-deveria-vacinar-seu-filho-e-fake-news

BRAZILIAN
SOURCEWeb:
https://www.
ivinoticias.
com.br/noticia/73544/
jovem-de-17anos-morreapos-tomarvacina-contrafebre-amarela
Facebook:
https://www.
facebook.com/
jornaldestaque­baixada/­­posts/­­
80­0­3­932­­0­­­­0­
16­­1979/
https://web.
archive.org/
web/20190­
12901­4901/
http://www.
jaimebruning.
com.br/blog/
vacinas-obrigatorias-o-que-ha-por-tras-disso/

https://www.
noticiasnaturais.
com/2015/02/
10-razoes-pelas-quais-voce-nao-deveria-vacinar-seus-filhos/

73

FOREIGN
SOURCEFOLLOWING
THE TRACK

REACH

-

BrazilFacebook:
2.100 shares

https://www.
naturalnews.
com/036756_
depopulation_
agenda_eugenics_survivor.html

US website
Natural News→ Brazilian
blog (Um novo
despertar)→ Brazilian
religious book
(Os Ceifadores
XV) → Brazilian
website (Jaime
Bruning’s
website) → several Brazilian
blogs (including
Rainha Maria)→ Debunked by
the Ministry of
HealthFacebook: 1,100
shareshttps://www.
naturalnews.
com/048151_
vaccination_
dangers_children_Big_Pharma.html

US websites(VacTruth andNatural News)→ Brazilian
website (Notícias Naturais)→ Facebook
pages (NotíciasNaturais, Pensadores contrao Sistema andO lado obscurodas vacinas)→ Whatsapp →Debunked by
the Ministry of
HealthFacebook: 736
sharesFAKE NEWSWHO FACTLINK TO-CHECKED IT FACT-CHECKAs novasvacinas ainda
causamautismo e ogoverno sabe

Ministério da
Saúde

Vacina gripe
Ministério dadeixa buraco no Saúde
braço em São
VicenteVacina dafebre amarela
engravida noiva
em Marabá edeixa cidadeem pânicoBoatosJapão: vacia
contra o HPV
sob julgamento
devido seusterríveis efeitos
colaterais

Ministério da
Saúde

Fiocruz diz quemutações dovírus afetam
eficácia davacina contra a
febre amarela

G1

http://www.
saude.gov.
br/fakenews/
44429-vacinas-causam-autismo-fake-news

http://www.
saude.gov.
br/fakenews/
45625-vacina-contra-gripe-causa-buraco-em-braco
https://www.boatos.org/brasil/
garota-virgem-engravida-vacina.html

http://www.
saude.gov.
br/fakenews/
44144-japao-vacina-contra-o-hpv-sob-julgamento-devido-a-horriveis-efeitos-colaterais-fake-news

BRAZILIAN
SOURCEhttps://pt.prepareforchange.
net/2017/04/21/
as-novas-vacinas-ainda-causam-autismo-e-os-governos-sabem/

http://archive.
fo/YFFxz

http://www.
amplitudenews.com.br/
noticia/5382/
vacina-da-febre-amarela-engravida-noiva-no-para-e-deixa-cidade-em-panico
https://verdademundial.com.
br/2017/03/
japao-vacina-contra-o-hpv-sob-julgamento-devido-seus-horriveis-efeitos-colaterais/
WhatsApp

http://especiais.g1.globo.
com/fato-ou-fake/2018/banco-de-boatos/#!/fiocruz-diz-que-mutacoes-do-virus-afetam-eficacia-da-vacina-contra-a-febre-amarela-fake

74

FOREIGN
SOURCEFOLLOWING
THE TRACK

REACH

https://www.globalresearch.ca/
new-vaccines-still-cause-autism-and-the-u-s-government-knows-it/5573951

US website(GreenMedInfo)→ Brazilian website (Prepare
For Change)→several blogs(including
Senhora deSirius andInfovacinas) →Debunked by
the Ministry of
HealthFacebook: 63
shares-BrazilFacebook: 59
shares-BrazilFacebook: 58
shareshttps://www.
naturalnews.
com/2017-02­-28-japan-­hpvvaccine­-on-trialfor­-its-horrifyingside-effects.html

US website(Natural News)→ Brazilian website (Verdade
Mundial) →Debunked by
the Ministry of
HealthFacebook: 33
shares-BrazilWhatsApp:impossible tomeasureFAKE NEWSWHO FACTLINK TO-CHECKED IT FACT-CHECKRECEITAIMUNIZAÇÃO
FEBRE
AMARELA
Ingredientes 1
Folha de couve
1 maçã 1 dente
de alho Suco
1/2 limão 1
colher de sopa
de mel 1/2 copode água

G1

Alerta aos pais:
MPF proíbe avacina contra oHPVG1

Diretor do HC(Hospital das
Clínicas) de SP
preocupado
com a nova
gripe que vai
matar muita
gente... orientachá de erva
doce

G1

Esse casal
pegou a gripe
h2n3 aí em Rio
Claro

G1

Funcionária
do Instituto
Butantã
desaconselha
vacina contra
febre amarela

BoatosBRAZILIAN
SOURCE
WhatsApp

http://especiais.g1.globo.
com/fato-ou-fake/2018/banco-de-boatos/#!/receita-natural-imuniza-contra-a-febre-amarela-ou-cura-a-doenca-fakeWhatsApp

http://especiais.g1.globo.
com/fato-ou-fake/2018/banco-de-boatos/#!/mpf-proibiu-vacina-contra-hpv-em-todo-o-pais- WhatsApp-fake
http://especiais.
g1.globo.com/fato-ou-fake/2018/
banco-de-boatos/#!/e-fake-que-diretor-do-hc-mandou-mensagem-com-dicas-para-evitar-gripe-e-que-tamiflu-e-feito-de-erva-docehttps://g1.globo.
com/fato-ou-fake/noticia/2018/07/30/
novo-virus-h2n3-tem-provocado-mortes-no-brasil-fake.
ghtml

WhatsApphttps://www.
boatos.org/?s=vacina+perigo

75

FOREIGN
SOURCEFOLLOWING
THE TRACK

REACH

-

BrazilWhatsApp:impossible tomeasure-BrazilWhatsApp:impossible tomeasure-BrazilWhatsApp:impossible tomeasure-BrazilWhatsApp:impossible tomeasure-BrazilWhatsApp:impossible tomeasureFAKE NEWSWHO FACTLINK TO-CHECKED IT FACT-CHECK

Vírus da febre
amarela sofreu
uma mutação
e vacinanão protege
mais: “Está
confirmada
suspeita. O
vírus já mudou.
A vacina atualpode não
proteger”

BoatosVacina contra
febre amarelaparalisao fígado,
segundomédico deSorocaba: “A
minha prima
Simone mora
em Sorocaba omarido dela émédico…”

BoatosFebre amarelafarsa criada
pelo governo
para vendervacinaBoatos“Não adiantabrigar comigo:vacinas causam
autismo. Tá na
bula”

Lupa

Alumínio
presente em
vacinas causa
autismoDrauzio Varella

BRAZILIAN
SOURCE
WhatsAppFOREIGN
SOURCEFOLLOWING
THE TRACK

REACH

-

BrazilWhatsApp:impossible tomeasure-BrazilWhatsApp:impossible tomeasure-BrazilWhatsApp:impossible tomeasurehttps://www.
naturalnews.
com/053469_
vaccines_autism_FDA_documents.html

US website
Natural News
→ Facebook →Debunked by
Lupa

-

-

-

-

https://www.boatos.org/saude/virus-febre-amarela-mutacao.
html

WhatsApphttps://www.
boatos.org/saude/vacina-febre-amarela-figado-sorocaba.html

WhatsApphttps://www.boatos.org/saude/
febre-amarela-farsa-governo.
html
https://piaui.folha.uol.com.br/lupa/­2019/02/­
18/­verificamosbula-autismo/https://drauziovarella.uol.
com.br/videos/drauzio-news/
aluminio-presente-em-vacinas-causa-autismo-drauzio-news-26/

Facebook(unidentified
link)

Thematic
fact-check, notrelated to asingle story)

TOTAL REACH that was possible to measure: 2.4 million views in YouTube, 23.5 million
views in Facebook (videos only), 578,000 shares in Facebook (considering only the main link, not its
various replications).

76

ANNEX II:
MOST POPULAR ANTI-VACCINATION POSTSON FACEBOOK PAGES WITHIN AVAAZ’S SAMPLE
Selected from analysis of 67 pages with anti-vaccination content, only in posts that mentioned“vaccine” and had a negative approach towards vaccination, from 2016 to 25th October 2019. In total,
there were 944 posts with 991,000 interactions. The top 5 posts listed below were responsible for
86% of the total interaction.

PAGE NAMECREATEDTOTAL INTERACTIONS

TYPE

TOTAL
VIEWS
(VIDEOONLY)MESSAGE

Crusade for
Freedom(Cruzada Pela
Liberdade)2017-09-19
12:05:05 EDT

761,642

Native Video

19,876,426

Parent Alert: MPF bans the HPV
vaccine, which can leave yourchildren debilitated for life oreven kill them because it contains
heavy metals, transgenic viruses
and preservatives, and destroys
the individual's natural capacities.
DO NOT VACCINATE YOUR
CHILD AGAINST HPV because
behind it there's a mafia that only
aims to make profit from it.

Against the
New World
Order(ContraNova Ordem
Mundia)l

2018-05-08
17:00:02 EDT

50,533Native Video

2,823,062

Totally healthy child dies after
second dose of H1N1 death
vaccineGlobalConspiracy(Conspiração
Global)2018-04-28
17:16:00 EDT

18,442

Link

Doctor breaks the silence: ''The
flu vaccine is the cause of thedeadly flu outbreak''GlobalConspiracy(Conspiração
Global)2018-12-24
16:34:00 EST

16,742

Link

Trump warns: ''Flu Vaccines Are
the Biggest 'Fraud' in Medical
History''

Ordem
DouradaDo Brasil(Brazilian
Golden Order)

2017-08-07
00:39:49 EDT

4,844

Native Video77

110,248

HPV VACCINE - Attorneys' Office
asks for vaccine to be forbiddenin all Brasil

MOST POPULAR ANTI-VACCINATION POST
IN FACEBOOK GROUPS
Selected from analysis of 33 groups with anti-vaccination content, only in posts that mentioned“vaccine” and had a negative approach towards vaccination, from 2016 to 25th October 2019. Resulting in a total of 2,396 posts with 77,000 interactions.

GROUP NAMECREATEDTOTAL INTERACTIONSTYPEMESSAGEThe Dark Sideof Vaccines (OLado Obscurodas Vacinas)

2018-12-05
06:44:18 EST

1.392

StatusAnonymous post: "I have a problem, I need toregister my 4-year-old daughter in school andthey are requiring a signed statement from ahealth center confirming she took all the vaccines.
Knowing the harm vaccines cause, I stopped
vaccinating her around 15 months old. Therefore
she didn't take all of them. I'm not sure what to do,
can anyone help me? I don't want to give her these
poisons. Not only they are requiring the vaccination
card, they are now demanding the statement
signed by the health center, proving that the childhas the vaccines up to date.

78

ANNEX III:
MOST POPULAR ANTI-VACCINATION BRAZILIANVIDEOS ON YOUTUBE
Selected from analysis of 69 videos with anti-vaccinate content and more than 10,000 visualizations, totalling together 9.2 million of visualizations and 40,000 comments.

TITLE

CHANNEL NAME

VIEWS

DATE

Yellow fever: watch it before you
get the vaccine! (Jaime Bruning)

New Generation! Commitment
with the Truth!
(Nova Geração! Compromisso com
a Verdade!)

1.3 million

01- 10 - 2018

THE INDUSTRY WILL MAKE
EVERYTHING TO STOP YOU FROMWATCHING THIS VIDEO! Prof.
Jaime Bruning 2019

Naturalmed(Med Natural)

1 million

11- 06 - 2018

VACCINATION: Population
Reduction, Transgenic Mosquitoes,
Georgian Guide Stones, Bill Gates& NOM

Rômulo Maraschin

840,000

05- 12 - 2018

URGENT! DOCTOR ALERTS THATH1N1 VACCINE DESTROYS YOURIMMUNITY AND CAUSES CANCER.
IS IT POSSIBLE???

Evangelical Fatherland of God(Pátria Evangélica de Deus)

661,000

05- 03 - 201960 North American Doctors tell theworld not to get poisoned by thelethal yellow fever vaccine

Apocalypse's Evangelists(Evangelistas Do Apocalipse)

401,000

01- 11 - 2018266- The 2019 Epidemic we can
avoid!!!

Truth Science(Ciencia de Verdade)392,000

07- 30 - 2018

H1N1 VACCINE- DON’T TAKE IT OR
YOU WILL DIE AFTER 2 YEARS

Dacio Silva

370,000

05- 05 - 2010

DON’T TAKE THE H1N1 VACCINE,
SAYS DAVID ICKE

apocalipseyootube

281,000

08- 25 - 2009

VACCINE H1N1- RESEARCHBEFORE TAKING IT!
VACINA H1N1 - NAO TOME,PESQUISE ANTES!

The Truth Will Set You Free
(VerdadeLibertaVoce)

239,000

10- 14 - 2009

How will vaccines kill millions ofBrazilians?

Apocalypse's Evangelists(Evangelistas Do Apocalipse)

227,000

02- 06 - 201879

NOVEMBRO, 2019