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Video claims—without evidence—that polio drops caused disabilities

In a video spreading online in Iran, a person purporting to be a disability care worker claims that some patients at their center have disabilities caused by polio drops. Health authorities have not confirmed any of the claims in the video. The video has been shared and viewed many times on social media, including on one post that received over 16,000 likes and nearly 700 comments. Although some responses criticized people sharing the video for spreading “ignorance,” others expressed negative views about vaccines. One popular comment encouraged parents not to vaccinate their children, while another claims that vaccines slow children’s development.

A social media user with over 33,000 followers posted several myths about polio vaccines—and vaccines generally—over the last few days. In one post, he falsely claims that polio didn’t exist until polio vaccines were introduced. The post received several supportive responses. In a video post with nearly 7,000 views, he accused Bill Gates of using vaccines to reduce the global population.

Many social media users responded negatively to recent reports that the Gates Foundation will help fund a clinical trial for a new tuberculosis vaccine. Several commenters accused Bill Gates of using Indonesian people as “guinea pigs” and repeated the myth that Gates funded a polio vaccine that paralyzed thousands of Indian children. One commenter questioned an artificial intelligence chatbot about past vaccine trials and whether Gates caused outbreaks in Ethiopia with polio vaccines that had to be destroyed. The AI chatbot correctly explained that the vaccines were not destroyed because they were unsafe, but as a standard disposal process for a specific vaccine that is only used under strict WHO guidelines.

This week, Kenyans online continued to express frustration and distrust about vaccine shortages. In response to reports that the country secured a three-year financing deal with GAVI, one social media user suggested that polio was “debunked as a hoax.”

Pakistan reported positive wastewater samples from 18 districts, along with its eighth polio case this year. Some social media users responded to the news by calling the polio vaccine “poison” and claiming that polio vaccination campaigns are a “big conspiracy” to leave the population barren.