Anti-vaxxers exposed: Hidden camera investigation (Marketplace)

[Music] they're destroying the lives of countless children we're tracking down the leaders of a movement vaccines cause autism pushing fear we do not want our children experimented upon and misinformation or in Washington DC and we're waving outside a big VIP event tonight with the world's biggest anti-vaxxers only they don't trust mainstream media so we're sending producers in with hidden cameras posing as activists to expose the movements inner workings we're gonna get to the real heart of this and why they push this anti fax message the movements leaders are hard to miss we spot three of the biggest Robert F Kennedy jr. JFK's nephew and head of a nonprofit that funded anti-vaxxer ads like this Andrew Wakefield the disgraced physician whose bogus study famously linked vaccines to autism Dell big tree a controversial filmmaker speaker and host he spent much of his career defending Wakefield he gave up on saving his own ass in his own career to save children and they're treated like rock stars conversations are flowing there are even anti-vaxxers from Canada are activists quick to share their strategies secret because openly anti VAX on social media so they use crafty names back in Canada so we're just outside Ottawa and we're about to meet two moms who are sisters and they have a really unique story to tell about being vaccine hesitancy this one is someone else Megan is a mother of three okay everybody we need to wash some hands Tara a mother of ten they know all too well how convincing anti-vaccine can be with really compelling headlines like my chocolates never the same again lots of regression lots of death lots of babies dying that kind of thing is is really really scary when they see posts like this Megan and Tara begin to doubt I didn't want them to be the tiny percentage to to be injured by a vaccine I just kind of froze in fear and didn't make any decision at all but when they do more digging they have trouble verifying the claims I thought there was this wealth of well documented well referenced like incontrovertible evidence that all the claims that vaccines are bad for you all this smoke where's the fire I was pissed they finally decide to vaccinate but it's too late we had made the decision to vaccinate them and the reason that we didn't make the appointment is because they were coughing and they were sick and it was the one thing was whopping Huff thousands of children died every year before the vaccine existed and kids who get it today can still die from it these are Tara's kids all infected Megan's three unvaccinated kids end up sick too they're put into quarantine like my youngest was a year old and he was born premature so had that happened a year earlier he could have died I cannot even explain like the self-recrimination and the guilts and the fear I was like hi did that were vulnerable to misinformation because we're so we so dearly want to do the right thing the kind of messaging Tara and Megan fell for is exactly what we're hearing at this anti-vaxxer alley in Washington it's the most significant medical issue in society today is the injury from vaccinations this is a war for our children this is a war for their minds for their bodies with many making false claims about the harm vaccines can cause I know that it can cause allergies autoimmune issues there's spectrum autism's eczema you know seizures these are things that are affecting children there's no evidence to support any of the concerns Timothy Caulfield public health expert and author of a book debunking vaccine myths and not only is this isn't even speculative yeah this is what the science says let's go through some of the claims allergies no evidence to support it autoimmune disease up no evidence what about seizures there are rare risks where kids do have seizures you have to remember that kids can get that kind of seizure from a variety of of ailments fat side effects are very rare for every million vaccinations only one to two severe allergic reactions despite these stats nearly half of Canadians have concerns about vaccine safety and according to the World Health Organization that's known as vaccine hesitancy a top global health threat you have on the one side the hardcore anti-vaxxers then you have the vaccination hesitant these are people that are are uncertain about whether they should get their kids vaccinated often these are just people who are trying to do what's best for their kids why do you think vaccine hesitancy is so common I think it's common because unfortunately the anti vaccine is working several studies including this one that had hundreds of thousands of kids showed no link between the measles mumps and rubella vaccine known as MMR and autism yet it's the biggest myth that persists and it can be traced back to this study with only 12 children the study linking MMR and autism is a sham it is a sham it is and it's been debunked and it was shown to be completely fraudulent yet Wakefield Kennedy jr. and Big Tree still pushed this line and it's led to outbreaks around the world in Samoa authorities recently arrested an anti-vaxxer for spreading misinformation after a measles epidemic more than 80 people died almost all of them children it's caused a huge amount of harm we've seen me zala breaks happen all over the world right and it's largely not entirely but largely because of the spread of misinformation back on hidden camera we want to learn more about their tactics the business behind their message happy to come back I love it nice to meet you nice to meet you too it was gonna take to get you to Canada these or anything yeah we find out big tree and Wakefield charge thousands of dollars to speak at events and they've raised millions through nonprofits to fund their cause others have more creative ways of fundraising this is James Lyons Wyler he runs a science-based nonprofit he says he's not an activist even though he holds views like this vaccines can and do cause autism in some people how does he raise his money he wants to be seen as a scientist so he proposes a workaround run an event I've been learning about where you are charge admission as my website he sounds like a promo thing for you you can get the herd out for you know [Applause] if the worst thing I'm doing is talking with people about aluminum accumulation trends we're told for an event with 400 people it'll cost $10,000 they must be aware of this science and this is a way of creating celebrity this is a way of creating demand this is a way of making a living James tells us later over email that it's not unexpected he gets paid for his services he says hosting an event comes with costs but in Washington he offers one piece of advice for free what's going on Challenge mandatory vaccination policies but they call it medical freedom it's so cynical I didn't expect them to be so explicit about it moved a very particular you know agenda I think part of it it's creating fear how does hearing these claims over and over again affect our decision-making just be exposed this information makes it seem more believable and invites a little bit of doubt which creates hesitancy [Music] we're putting that to the test with a social experiment showing how easily misinformation influences the decisions we make hi everyone I'm Ashley Tomlinson with CBC marketplace this group thinks they're here for a forum about fake news I want you to feel okay in front of the cameras and so what we're gonna do is a few warm-up exercises but what they don't know these warm-up exercises are really a series of tests created with the help of our experts Timothy Caulfield an olivier Drouin a pediatrician who has a background in behavioral science I think it's gonna be it's gonna be fascinating they're in another room watching and analyzing everything why welcome to the fake news forum is your marketplace vaccine fears are growing the anti vaccine we want to show you why it's so easy to fall for fake news about vaccine dangers welcome to the fake news forum we've brought in 8 media savvy people two of them happen to have doubts about vaccines parents like Elka what if I take the vaccinations and something happened to me and Valerie she's heard all sorts of anti vaccines Robert Kennedy they're here for what they think is a forum on fake news but they're actually part of a social experiment that our experts are secretly watching our first experiment something called identifiable victim bias anti-vaxxers will often focus on one powerful story about a child who they say was harmed by a vaccine I think almost everyone knows someone that has had a kid with an adverse reaction I personally have not experienced that with my kids but I I know people that have you know most people who come with some question their worries about vaccinations they always start with like the story of somebody to test that we present the group with two fictional causes with two very different stories and we give them a pouch of money there are one of two causes that you can donate five dollars to this is Milo the dog his owner was attacked by another dog and Milo courageously jumped in protected his owner but suffered very serious injuries the surgery is gonna cost upwards of fifteen hundred dollars let's see how this next story compares this is the Toronto dog society now they help stray dogs and troubled dogs find shelter this cause helps many more dogs not just one but it's harder to relate to the costs are growing and they just can't keep up remember people tend to be drawn to someone's story over bigger causes doesn't work for Elka next up this guy the shelter results of our first bias test 50% voted for Milo the dog it was something like vaccines you really only need 20-30 percent to to be swayed by this information didn't create a serious problem now we're testing for something called omission bias our tendency to do nothing when faced with tough choices parents won't vaccinate because they don't want to be responsible for harming their child it's so dangerous to vaccinate we're just not gonna do to test this bias we pull them aside and give them a choice we'll take 50 dollars from one person or they can choose to take 40 dollars from someone else choosing does less harm but the bias suggests most people will do nothing and let us take 50 dollars from someone else if you just let it happen Danny it feels more natural and so people feel less responsible and so it begins what will vomit do I can do that oh he's taking himself is that the case for the others let's see what Valerie does she's uncertain yeah I can't do it she said I cannot do that I can have pick one person yeah yeah classy she doesn't want to take the action turns out most of the people don't want to take the money they let us do it you decide holy cow this is a really strong example of the omission by us now we're testing for probability neglect you have far greater risk of getting a brain infection from the measles than suffering a serious side effect from the vaccine but those odds mean nothing when you're afraid it was terrifying oh my gosh I hope they're not the you know one in the gazillion who is gonna have some horrific reaction to test this we need a terrifying scenario our guests will want to avoid oh here we go [Music] the spider represents every parent's nightmare that your child will be harmed by a vaccine so gang we draw a red ball it means you have to hold the spider spider if you are not excited about red balls the only way to avoid drawing the red ball is to pay up but don't you need to find out what your chances are before giving away your money we see quickly our guests never ask those that are afraid they haven't asked about what was the probability they just want to avoid it yeah what's Sharman going to do we can take out the red balls for you if you give us some money she's pondering which means you're safe all right we don't have to draw thank you she looks pretty pleased with the result those that are terrified pay up and never ask their odds ready red ball okay then there's Martin the test doesn't work on him cuz he loves spiders what a little princess time for the big reveal well there's more than meets the eye to this fake news forum okay come on out guys this has been a CDC experiment our experts have been watching this whole time and analyzing your decisions no great we're working on a story about vaccinations and the anti vaccination messaging and I think you know there's a lot of those different hidden forces that we don't necessarily think about or realize that comes into play when we make decisions it's actually very hard to combat a cognitive biases even when you're aware of them so how have these experiments impacted our guests I did not expect to be so manipulated today so it was extremely enlightening to me that I got to step it up a notch and be more critical what about Elka remember she had real concerns about vaccine safety I'm very glad that I was a part of it and definitely I'm gonna take the shots now Elka decides to start vaccinating I will make sure my kiss also take it and whoever doesn't want to I'll try to motivate like I got motivated so yes right away I'm going to the clinic this is your marketplace we've gone undercover with the world's biggest anti-vaxxers now we're waiting outside a VIP event we're hoping to confront one of the movements leaders as the event ends we catch up with del big trees you're considered a leader every day someone recognizes my child's injured or my cousin I watched the child regress in the autism recognize that identifiable victim bias hundreds of thousands there's no link between the MMR vaccine and autism it's bad science most of us being funded by people who make money off of selling vaccines not true many patents for childhood vaccines have expired and are not a big moneymaker for drug companies here's the point I want my children to get the measles the people who get the measles well life song immunity for life but what about the 140,000 people who died of measles in 2018 if so they should ignore them needles out brats and it is due to a drop in vaccinations so true come on I just want you to speak to parents who are vaccine hesitant we're really worried okay about misinformation yes what do you say to them do your own research and if they do their research and they're still not sure that's what I would say don't do anything you're not sure about here that he's saying do nothing that's omission bias these parents did that and they learned the hard way my advice to vaccine Testament parents would be a completely understand how you feel get informed about the real risks of these actual preventable diseases and not just get scared into a bunch of misinformation

Channel: CBC News

Views: 291,572

Rating: 3.7298186 out of 5

Keywords: anti-vaccination, vaccination, anti-vaxx, misinformation, disinformation, anti-vaccination myths, the truth about vaccinations, misinformation campaign, anti-vaxxers, anti-vaxx campaign, hidden camera, investigation, hidden camera investigation, social media, Facebook, anti-vaxx movement, Facebook ads, children's health defense, Timothy Caulfield, medical freedom, medical choice, vaccine safety, global health, cognitive bias, vaccines and autism, CBC Marketplace, CBC News

Id: V522Hs8E6NU

Length: 21min 37sec (1297 seconds)

Published: Fri Feb 21 2020