# Vaccines, autism and big pharma **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 5, 2015, 8:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vaccines-autism-and-big-pharma/727046 "2015-08-05T08:34:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 8
**Author:** ![Blue\_Blistering\_Barnacle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blue_blistering_barnacle/32/3386_2.png) [@Blue\_Blistering\_Barnacle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blue_Blistering_Barnacle)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2015, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vaccines-autism-and-big-pharma/727046/141 "2015-08-28T21:24:24Z")
nm ---
**Author:** ![j666](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de0a6/32.png) [@j666](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/j666)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2015, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vaccines-autism-and-big-pharma/727046/142 "2015-08-29T00:23:46Z")
> [@LavenderBlue](#): > > I don’t see much ranting here. I see people frustrated and expressing that frustration. And how helpful is that? Look at the response to **Chikni** - there is no reason to think s/he is “just asking questions”, that s/he is anything but a person looking for a few references. Do honestly think this response, or the thread in general, has been helpful? Look where we are - this is not the Pit, or even Great Debates, where people come to rant and argue. This is **General Questions** ; Chikni had a question. > [@Chikni](#): > > Discussing vaccines with a reasonably evidence oriented person the other day, I was surprised to hear them say “Yes, studies show no link between vaccines and autism, but you know who funded those? It was pharmaceutical companies!” Is there any work that reviews source of funding for vaccine studies and/or studies that are positively NOT funded by pharmaceuticals? > [@Chikni](#): > > I know you’re something of an authority on the issue. Could you point me to maybe two or three published papers that you think both > a) Rigorously establish that there is no link between vaccines and autism > and > (b) Cannot, by rational people, be linked back to pharma funding > > Purely so that I have resources to fall back on > Thanks! > [@Telemark](#): > > Here’s 21 pages of links to studies showing no link between vaccines and autism. I’ll let you examine the funding at your leisure. > > Your turn, can you show a single study that demonstrates a link between vaccines and autism? > [@Bridget\_Burke](#): > > Thankfully, I do not interact with anyone like those “smart, well educated women.” I’ll leave that to the people who post here who’ve devoted considerable time & effort to explaining vaccination in easily comprehended detail. I’m not a scientist but I’ve had contact with rational people for many years now. > > The PBS show you omitted from my post would be a great way to reach those women. There were animations with cute little white cells which smart 5th graders might find condescending–but should be within the grasp of these ladies’ brains. I hope some of them caught the show. I also hope they stop hanging out in crowded playgrounds with their inadequately vaccinated kids–for the sake of those kids & the rest of humanity. I wouldn’t know; I don’t hang out with “ladies”, or women who have time to hang out in playgrounds much. I also don’t know personally a lot of people who have not vaccinated their children; as far as I know, all my family, friends, and acquaintances -smart, well-educated lawyers and bankers and artists - had their children vaccinated. And you know what? Most them have not one damn clue how the immune system works. They didn’t make well-informed, rational decisions, either. I clipped out the paragraph about the PBS in your first post because I had no quarrel with it. As you apparently dislike it, I won’t shorten your posts. ---
**Author:** ![j666](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de0a6/32.png) [@j666](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/j666)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2015, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vaccines-autism-and-big-pharma/727046/143 "2015-08-29T00:28:40Z")
I found this today, it’s a report on health literacy in the U.S. The link is to a webpage from which the report can be downloaded as a pdf. I haven’t read it, but you might find it useful or interesting. > [@](#): > > [Health Literacy: Past, Present, and Future: Workshop Summary](http://books.nap.edu/openbook.php?record_id=21714&page=2) ---
**Author:** ![LavenderBlue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e95f7d/32.png) [@LavenderBlue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LavenderBlue)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2015, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vaccines-autism-and-big-pharma/727046/144 "2015-08-29T00:43:10Z")
> [@j666](#): > > And how helpful is that? Look at the response to **Chikni** - there is no reason to think s/he is “just asking questions”, that s/he is anything but a person looking for a few references. Do honestly think this response, or the thread in general, has been helpful? Look where we are - this is not the Pit, or even Great Debates, where people come to rant and argue. This is **General Questions** ; Chikni had a question. I don’t mean this to be rude but are you honestly reading this thread carefully? Did you see my response to this person that linked to the [studies](http://justthevax.blogspot.com/2014/03/75-studies-that-show-no-link-between.html) they requested? How was my response to them anything less than helpful? Or anything remotely resembling a rant? Most of the comments here have been very polite. This entire thread has been quite civil so I don’t know you seem so upset. Many of us who are talking about this issue are not just writing about the specific OP but about anti-vaxers in general who are often quite rude to us. How the hell am I supposed to respond to people who call my girls “funny looking” and “obviously vaccine damaged?” To people who compare me to a Nazi? Call me fugly? Insist I am being paid by pHARM companies to help poison kids with vaccines? :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![LavenderBlue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e95f7d/32.png) [@LavenderBlue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LavenderBlue)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2015, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vaccines-autism-and-big-pharma/727046/145 "2015-08-29T01:02:26Z")
There are some sarcastic responses to [this](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=18627760&postcount=81) post. But do you really think anything we write here will change this person’s mind? ---
**Author:** ![j666](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de0a6/32.png) [@j666](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/j666)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2015, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vaccines-autism-and-big-pharma/727046/146 "2015-08-29T01:18:49Z")
> [@LavenderBlue](#): > > I don’t mean this to be rude but are you honestly reading this thread carefully? Did you see my response to this person that linked to the [studies](http://justthevax.blogspot.com/2014/03/75-studies-that-show-no-link-between.html) they requested? How was my response to them anything less than helpful? Or anything remotely resembling a rant? > > Most of the comments here have been very polite. This entire thread has been quite civil so I don’t know you seem so upset. > > Many of us who are talking about this issue are not just writing about the specific OP but about anti-vaxers in general who are often quite rude to us. How the hell am I supposed to respond to people who call my girls “funny looking” and “obviously vaccine damaged?” To people who compare me to a Nazi? Call me fugly? Insist I am being paid by pHARM companies to help poison kids with vaccines? > > :dubious: I have been following this thread from the beginning, because vaccinations and science literacy are particular interests of mine, but never apologize for going with your strengths. I do have to ask if you read my post; I obviously was not pointing out your response to Chikni. Some of the post in the thread have been polite, but many are not; I could go through them, pulling out all the ones with snarky, dismissive tones, and subtly - or not so subtly - insulting terminology, but what will that achieve? It will piss off the posters, make them less open to what I am saying, and that will not advance my goals, which are to ensure more people have their children vaccinated. I know that many posters “are not just writing about the specific OP but about anti-vaxers in general”; that is what I am decrying. This forum is **General Questions** , and the question was a request for a couple of references that cannot be linked back to pharma funding. [Am I crossing the line into Junior Modding by harping on which forum we are in?] ---
**Author:** ![LavenderBlue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e95f7d/32.png) [@LavenderBlue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LavenderBlue)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2015, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vaccines-autism-and-big-pharma/727046/147 "2015-08-29T01:38:56Z")
> [@j666](#): > > I have been following this thread from the beginning, because vaccinations and science literacy are particular interests of mine, but never apologize for going with your strengths. I do have to ask if you read my post; I obviously was not pointing out your response to Chikni. > > Some of the post in the thread have been polite, but many are not; I could go through them, pulling out all the ones with snarky, dismissive tones, and subtly - or not so subtly - insulting terminology, but what will that achieve? It will piss off the posters, make them less open to what I am saying, and that will not advance my goals, which are to ensure more people have their children vaccinated. > > I know that many posters “are not just writing about the specific OP but about anti-vaxers in general”; that is what I am decrying. This forum is **General Questions** , and the question was a request for a couple of references that cannot be linked back to pharma funding. > > [Am I crossing the line into Junior Modding by harping on which forum we are in?] I was on vacation for much this thread’s life so maybe I’m reading it differently. So I went back and reread it. I still don’t see much snark. People are reponding with a little bit of derision but this is the Straight Dope and the anti-vax view is very much on the fringe. When you ask what that will achieve I sort of have to ask if you really think ANYTHING will change the mind of the poster on post 81? Let’s not lose sight of the fact that most kids are vaccinated. So we’re mostly already there. The problem is that there’s a small vocal minority and they want attention, respect and a place at the table even when they’re basically the equivalent of birthers and holocaust deniers. As for decrying the rudeness of some of the posters here, I have to say if you really want to see rude well [here’s](http://vaccineawakening.blogspot.com/2006/09/slut-shot.html) Barbara Loe Fisher, the grand doyenne of the anti-vax movement and a total asshole calling the HPV vaccine, a vaccine given mostly to girls under twelve “the slut shot.” What the hell could be ruder than calling kids like my daughter a slut for getting a shot that helps protect them against a form of cancer sluts? You are decrying people like myself and other posters for rudeness but we’re not the ones going around calling little girls sluts. We don’t accuse Andrew Wakefield of [eating](http://scienceblogs.com/insolence/2009/12/01/the-anti-vaccine-movement-shows-just-how/) babies for Thanksgiving. I daresay none of us here have ever called anyone a Nazi even when they lobby in favor of measles. I know I sure as hell would never call any anti-vaxer’s kids fugly or obviously damaged. You are tone trolling to the wrong people IMO. ---
**Author:** ![j666](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de0a6/32.png) [@j666](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/j666)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2015, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vaccines-autism-and-big-pharma/727046/148 "2015-08-29T03:11:15Z")
I guess I just hold myself to a higher standard than Barbara Loe Fisher. Do I think “anything” will change **debcroweapple’s** mind? Yes, I think it is possible, if not probable. Do I think derision will? No. And I am sorry people are calling your little girls fugly sluts, and if you start a Pit Thread about that, I will support you, but right here I am more concerned with the counterproductive behavior of alienating rather than persuading people, or at least helping them persuade others. For example, does Chikni know the easiest ways to determine if an author has direct ties to a pharmaceutical company? Does s/he know what a retrospective cohort study is, never mind what it’s most significant disadvantage is here? Has s/he even taken statistics? Perhaps most importantly, does s/he know what a heart-breaking rabbit hole sh/he is peering down, as **Really Not All That Bright** has touched on? ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2015, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vaccines-autism-and-big-pharma/727046/149 "2015-08-29T03:14:05Z")
> [@LavenderBlue](#): > > We don’t accuse Andrew Wakefield of [eating](http://scienceblogs.com/insolence/2009/12/01/the-anti-vaccine-movement-shows-just-how/) babies for Thanksgiving. The link to the infamous Thanksgiving baby feast photo cited in that article is dead (Age of Autism, the virulently antivax group which posted it on their site later removed it), but [the Internet never forgets](http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-lEzjpUUgB7g/UIgtm9ii_WI/AAAAAAAAAlY/ddBRhxGIntg/s1600/AoA+Thanksgiving+Baby+Feast.jpg). \*I’m still puzzled as to what that tree is in full bloom at Thanksgiving. ---
**Author:** ![LavenderBlue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e95f7d/32.png) [@LavenderBlue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LavenderBlue)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2015, 3:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vaccines-autism-and-big-pharma/727046/150 "2015-08-29T03:51:30Z")
> [@j666](#): > > I guess I just hold myself to a higher standard than Barbara Loe Fisher. > > Do I think “anything” will change **debcroweapple’s** mind? Yes, I think it is possible, if not probable. Do I think derision will? No. > > And I am sorry people are calling your little girls fugly sluts, and if you start a Pit Thread about that, I will support you, but right here I am more concerned with the counterproductive behavior of alienating rather than persuading people, or at least helping them persuade others. > > For example, does Chikni know the easiest ways to determine if an author has direct ties to a pharmaceutical company? Does s/he know what a retrospective cohort study is, never mind what it’s most significant disadvantage is here? Has s/he even taken statistics? > > Perhaps most importantly, does s/he know what a heart-breaking rabbit hole sh/he is peering down, as **Really Not All That Bright** has touched on? I also hold myself to a higher standard than Barbara Loe Fisher. Fisher is still a jerk and a public health menace who deserves every bit of vilification she gets. As for poster number 81, I think we both know that pretty much nothing will change their mind on this issue. So I don’t think a bit of mockery is really going to make much of a difference to someone who thinks that doctors are in league with pHARM companies to deliberately poison kids via vaccines. If someone wants to ask for help trying to figure out the information you are touching on, they are more than welcome to ask such questions. I think we both know that the poster will be given very helpful information. Polite questions tend to be greeted with polite answers. Rants of the anti-vax, birther, holocaust denial variety tend to be greeted with a mixture of both attempts to answer the questions posed but more than a hint of snark because many posters know they are largely wasting their time doing so. What I personally found is that passionate (and occasionally snarky) debates about vaccines can also help people. We do far too much IMO to try and reason the unreasonable out of bad behavior and not enough to provide support for those who are making the right choice and vaccinating their kids. I think that giving them a place at the table helps validate their viewpoint and perpetuate the problem of [false balance](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/False_balance) by ultimately implying that the anti-view even deserves to be heard. I don’t know that it really does. I mean Fisher, Wakefield and their ilk are just plain wrong. Worse, dangerous. I know several people who have been perusaded by their idoicy and ended up with kids with pertussis and the flu. Granted, they tended to become instantly pro-vax that way, but it’s kind of a nasty price for their poor kids to pay. ---
**Author:** ![China\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/779978/32.png) [@China\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/China_Guy)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2015, 4:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vaccines-autism-and-big-pharma/727046/151 "2015-08-29T04:33:35Z")
We live in the era where “my opinion” is as valid as any peer reviewed scientific study. Christ on a pogo stick, I deal with this enough at work with smart, well educated (post grad, often PhD’s) experienced folk who are complete rubes on areas outside their area of expertise, who still feel that “dammit my \*opinion \*is equal to your subject matter expertise. Just break it down to 3 bullet points and I’ll give you a yes no answer.” It’s asinine false equivalency, and it’s getting increasingly prevalent. These same people bring the full weight of their opinion to something like vaccines. “I’m the Dad, I know better than doctors, big pharma and everyone else 'cause I’m smart, successful, make good money, have an MBA, and I have my opinion and my opinion has made me the success I am.” I have a child on the autism spectrum. I hear vaccination BS and miracle cures every day, thank you very much. I’ll agree that honey is better than vinegar, and that being polite generally has the best approach. That said, California has the right idea that you can believe any kinda of pseudo science you want, and the State can’t force you to vaccinate your child, but the State can raise the bar significantly for what your beliefs are going to requires. As soon as Marin Mom has to actually pay the price for pseudo science then we’ll see how many really will stick to their guns. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2015, 4:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vaccines-autism-and-big-pharma/727046/152 "2015-08-29T04:48:43Z")
> [@j666](#): > > Do I think “anything” will change **debcroweapple’s** mind? Yes, I think it is possible, if not probable. Do I think derision will? No. That assumes I’m interested in trying to reason with anti-vaxers. I’m not. All I care about is stopping them from putting kids at risk by their anti-social behaviour. For example, they shouldn’t be able to send their kids to a public school without proof of vaccination. They can home-school, or set up a private school for unvaccinated kids. I don’t really care why they choose to put their own kids at risk, and I’m not interested in trying to argue them our of their irrational and anti-social behaviour. I just don’t want them putting my kid at risk. I feel sorry for their kids though. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2015, 5:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vaccines-autism-and-big-pharma/727046/153 "2015-08-29T05:36:18Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > The link to the infamous Thanksgiving baby feast photo cited in that article is dead (Age of Autism, the virulently antivax group which posted it on their site later removed it), but [the Internet never forgets](http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-lEzjpUUgB7g/UIgtm9ii_WI/AAAAAAAAAlY/ddBRhxGIntg/s1600/AoA+Thanksgiving+Baby+Feast.jpg). Could you provide some context? What was this thing about? ---
**Author:** ![Princhester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2015, 6:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vaccines-autism-and-big-pharma/727046/154 "2015-08-29T06:49:10Z")
> [@Derleth](#): > > **Princhester** : What’s the difference in the effect on herd immunity caused by non-vaccinators compared to anti-vaccinators? None in a sense. The distinction is not one relevant to immediate health outcomes. It’s a distinction that – if relevant at all – may be relevant to appropriate approaches to changing people’s minds. ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2015, 9:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vaccines-autism-and-big-pharma/727046/155 "2015-08-29T09:15:40Z")
> [@Princhester](#): > > None in a sense. The distinction is not one relevant to immediate health outcomes. It’s a distinction that – if relevant at all – may be relevant to appropriate approaches to changing people’s minds. Aren’t the “horrible evil BigPharma” companies researching a way to make their drugs and other vaccines in a way that those who are currently allergic to them can have a vaccine that will not cause an allergic reaction? That seems to me to be a pretty good distinction between those who can’t (and thus must wait) and those who won’t (and thus are creating a problem). ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Miskatonic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mr.miskatonic/32/310_2.png) [@Mr.Miskatonic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Miskatonic)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2015, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vaccines-autism-and-big-pharma/727046/156 "2015-08-29T13:50:42Z")
> [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > Could you provide some context? What was this thing about? Just the anti-vaxxers (Age of Autism specifically) idea of humor. The faces photoshopped on there are prominent pro-vaccinators. So naturally they are horrible, horrible baby-eating big Pharma shills. They thought this was a good idea. A lot of their rabid fanbase agreed, a large number did not, and the general public that saw this was appalled. They removed with no apology it and now pretend it never happened. For a lot of science & medicine folks, this is where the anti-vaxxers got their attention and showed to them that they were acting like rabid dogs. A few other rabid dog incidents sealed it and their movement hasn’t done as well. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2015, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vaccines-autism-and-big-pharma/727046/157 "2015-08-29T14:16:24Z")
> [@Mr.Miskatonic](#): > > Just the anti-vaxxers (Age of Autism specifically) idea of humor. The faces photoshopped on there are prominent pro-vaccinators. So naturally they are horrible, horrible baby-eating big Pharma shills. > > They thought this was a good idea. A lot of their rabid fanbase agreed, a large number did not, and the general public that saw this was appalled. They removed with no apology it and now pretend it never happened. > > For a lot of science & medicine folks, this is where the anti-vaxxers got their attention and showed to them that they were acting like rabid dogs. A few other rabid dog incidents sealed it and their movement hasn’t done as well. For more context, [here’s](https://www.sciencebasedmedicine.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/cannibal.jpg) the photoshopped image as it appeared on the Age of Autism website. The people portrayed as baby-eating cannibals include Dr. Paul Offit (developer of a ilfe-saving rotavirus vaccine and prominent immunization advocate, who’s the semi-official Antivax Antichrist), Trine Tsouderos (a former Chicago Tribune reporter who wrote numerous accurate and thus unflattering articles on the antivax movement) and [Alison Singer](http://www.nature.com/news/2011/111102/full/479028a.html) (a leader of the research and advocacy group Autism Speaks, who had the temerity to focus on autism research that doesn’t seek to demonize vaccines). In case anyone is dismissing Age of Autism as waaaay out there - well [yes, they are](http://www.ageofautism.com/2015/02/i-will-accept-your-surrender.html), but their leaders are prominent antivax figures widely quoted and admired by others of their kind. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2015, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vaccines-autism-and-big-pharma/727046/158 "2015-08-29T14:24:28Z")
Thanks! very disturbing group of folks. ---
**Author:** ![dasmoocher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/dbc845/32.png) [@dasmoocher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dasmoocher)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2015, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vaccines-autism-and-big-pharma/727046/159 "2015-08-29T18:24:43Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > \*I’m still puzzled as to what that tree is in full bloom at Thanksgiving. Why, one that is watered with the blood of babies, of course. See how red the flowers are–blood. Connect the dot! ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2015, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vaccines-autism-and-big-pharma/727046/160 "2015-08-30T00:42:41Z")
> [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > Thanks! very disturbing group of folks. Happily, their antics are no longer working, and they might even be backfiring. [For example, they not only failed to kill a California law that reduces vaccine exemptions, they may have gotten it passed even faster](https://www.techwire.net/how-social-media-backfired-for-the-anti-vax-community/): > [@](#): > > Social media, specifically Twitter, was used extensively by opponents of Senate Bill 277 – legislation Gov. Jerry Brown signed on June 30 eliminating the exemption from immunization requirements based upon personal beliefs. > > [snip] > > SB 277 opponents began to organize and get active when the legislation was first introduced. Their activity and activism took many forms, from social media organizing to traditional letter writing. They visited legislators’ offices and attended and testified at committee hearings. The social media activity increased as time passed and as the bill was heard in various legislative committees. > > [snip] > > Together the activists and association built a social media presence that was remarkable, and more significant than anything the California State Capitol has ever seen. But rather than being strategic in its organization and aim, the campaign quickly took on a life of its own and erupted into an out-of-control social media army. > > The frenetic weirdness finally climaxed when opponents fixated on one particular lobbyist, calling her “Devil with the Blue Dress.” They tweeted and posted pictures online, (later removed by Twitter), of her crossing the street outside the Capitol, and using hashtag #DevilInaBlueDress. They also ended messages with the creepy and ominous hashtag #wearewatchingyou. Pictures of her friends and family members, including her 6-year-old daughter, were posted on conspiratorial blogs and social media accounts. > > [snip] > > At one point, the president of the Chiropractic Association was forced to answer why some of this online traffic included death threats toward legislators, to which he exclaimed that he could not control everyone online. > > Later he was seen on [a video posted on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iIm7dYDs6_Q&feature=youtu.be) trying to get activists to stop harassing one of his own lobbyists. But he was also caught suggesting they follow other lobbyists “all day long.” > > The cyberstalking was so unprecedented it drew the attention of traditional media as well as law enforcement. Local television and newspaper coverage easily connected the dots, tying the stalking activity to the same activists who were leading the social media campaign. > > [snip] > > Soon, the Sacramento Capitol community, many of whom hadn’t even followed SB 277 previously, were tweeting photos of themselves wearing blue dresses and neckties in solidarity with the proponents of the legislation and the lobbyist who was being harassed. > > [snip] > > After easily passing the full Senate on May 14, SB 277 moved to the Assembly where it was “fast-tracked.” Instead of being heard in three policy committees, it was heard in just one and then sent straight to the Assembly floor. The Assembly asserted it wanted to avoid the same circus that had occurred in the Senate. > > Historically, most pieces of Legislation don’t make it to the governor’s desk for signature until the last days of session. In 2014 there were 931 pieces of legislation signed into law. Only 79 of them arrived to Gov. Brown before July 1. > > [But, as mentioned above, this bill was signed into law on June 30.] Point being, the anti-vaccination conspiracy theory, like the Bush/Jews/NWO/Zionists/Reptilians/Khazars Did 9/11 conspiracy theory and the others before it, is passing into its hardcore stage, where it is primarily held by people who believe _everything_ which isn’t “mainstream” or “logical” or “grounded in reality”, even if the beliefs are mutually-inconsistent and blatantly idiotic. You can tie this to the measles outbreak, but these things seem to have a lifespan (I personally witnessed the 9/11 Idiocy Movement rise and die off prior to this) and, ultimately, it would have been _something_. It’s just a natural downswing. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vaccines-autism-and-big-pharma/727046.md?page=7) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vaccines-autism-and-big-pharma/727046.md?page=9)