Correction record
McGill OSS, March 31, 2021
“A Dozen Misguided Influencers Spread Most of the Anti-Vaccination Content on Social Media,” by Jonathan Jarry, McGill University Office for Science and Society. This page sets the article’s claims beside the sources it relies on, so you can check them. It does not dispute the author’s right to his opinions about me or my work.
Not corrected; correction request sent October 15, 2026, response pending. The article carries no editor’s note or update since publication. Read the article.
1. Instagram is not in the finding the article cites
| The article says | The source says |
|---|---|
| “65% of anti-vaccine content shared on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter is attributable to a dozen people.” (take-home message) | “Our analysis of over 812,000 posts extracted from Facebook and Twitter between 1 February and 16 March 2021 shows that 65 percent of anti-vaccine content is attributable to the Disinformation Dozen.” (CCDH, March 24, 2021) |
CCDH’s 65% figure covers Facebook and Twitter. Its separate 73% figure covers Facebook only. Neither includes Instagram. The article’s own body text says “Facebook and Twitter.”
2. A sample finding is presented as a platform-wide fact
| The article says | The source says |
|---|---|
| “The Disinformation Dozen generates two thirds of anti-vaccination content on Facebook and Twitter.” (subtitle) | The figure comes from posts collected over six weeks. CCDH’s 73% Facebook figure “is based on a representative sample of 483 pieces of anti-vaccine content” collected from “10 private and 20 public anti-vaccine Facebook Groups.” (CCDH) |
CCDH presented the figure as the result of its sample. The article’s subtitle drops that qualification.
3. Facebook’s response is not mentioned
Four and a half months after the article was published, Facebook’s Vice President of Content Policy wrote about the report’s central claim:
“There isn’t any evidence to support this claim.” … “In fact, these 12 people are responsible for about just 0.05% of all views of vaccine-related content on Facebook.”
Monika Bickert, Meta, August 18, 2021
Two points of accuracy. First, Facebook’s 0.05% measures views of all vaccine-related content, while CCDH’s percentages measure shares of a sample of anti-vaccine content; the two figures use different denominators and should not be set against each other as a ratio. Second, the same Facebook post says it removed “over three dozen Pages, groups and Facebook or Instagram accounts linked to these 12 people, including at least one linked to each of the 12 people.” Both facts belong in the record.
The article’s statement that I “remain active on Facebook… despite violating their terms of service” also predates that post, in which Facebook said the remaining accounts linked to the twelve “are not posting content that breaks our rules, have only posted a small amount of violating content, which we’ve removed, or are simply inactive.”
What the article gets right
- The CCDH report did include me, and the article describes the report’s selection of twelve people accurately.
- I hold a bachelor’s degree in philosophy (Rutgers, 1995).
- The Instagram post quoted in the article’s final section is mine. CCDH reproduced it on page 30 of its report.
- The characterizations of GreenMedInfo and of me are the author’s opinions, and are presented as such.
Correction requests
- Aug 2024
I asked the author to add a note to this article reflecting Facebook’s August 2021 response. He told me OSS had added a pinned comment to a related 2022 video noting that Meta disputes the report and linking to its post. The article itself was not changed.
- Oct 2025
OSS’s director informed me in writing that the office stands by the article and will make no changes.
- Oct 15, 2026
I asked the author for two narrow corrections, removing “Instagram” from the take-home message and attributing the two-thirds figure to CCDH’s sample, and for a note on Facebook’s response matching the one on the 2022 video. Response: pending.
- Oct 15, 2026
This record published. Any response will be recorded here.
If OSS corrects the article, this page will be updated the same day to say so.
Sources
- McGill OSS, “A Dozen Misguided Influencers Spread Most of the Anti-Vaccination Content on Social Media,” March 31, 2021: mcgill.ca
- Center for Countering Digital Hate, The Disinformation Dozen, March 24, 2021: counterhate.com
- Meta, “How We’re Taking Action Against Vaccine Misinformation Superspreaders,” August 18, 2021: about.fb.com
Errors in this record will be corrected and logged on the corrections page. Last reviewed October 15, 2026.