Dorsey has not mentioned any of JFK Jr.’s anti-vaxxer opinions on his promotional posts, but Kennedy is one of the U.S. most prominent vaccine conspiracists with his organization Children’s Health Defense.
Photo: Francois Mori/AP – Jamie McCarthy/Getty Image
Over the weekend, Twitter co-founder and CEO of Block Jack Dorsey officially put his outsized weight behind a leading anti-vaxxer for president. Dorsey can now join other tech execs like his strained friend Elon Musk endorsing extremist political candidates, helping to spread even more misinformation online like water from a sprinkler.
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On Sunday, Dorsey retweeted a Fox News report about Robert F. Kennedy Jr. who argued that he could beat former President Donald Trump and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis if he won the Democratic nomination. Dorsey wrote “He can and will.” As if that wasn’t explicit enough, when another user asked if he was endorsing or just predicting Kennedy would win the nomination, Dorsey replied “both.”
Kennedy is a mainstream anti-vaxxer who has used his political influence to advocate against covid vaccines and, before that, the measles vaccine which—according to the CDC—could save 19 million lives between 2021 and 2030. Jr. announced a run for the Democratic party presidential ticket earlier this year, and over the past few weeks Dorsey has been heavily promoting the anti-vaxxer on his social media feeds, though he’s kept these views off Twitter until now. Dorsey has also shared a host of John F. Kennedy and Robert F. Kennedy assassination conspiracy talking points, something that RFK Jr. has been all too happy to promote as well.
RFK Jr.’s position as a political candidate has come with other perks on social media. Instagram banned Kennedy’s account back in 2021 for breaking its covid misinformation policies. Meta-owned Facebook and Instagram both banned his anti-vax group Children’s Health Defense in the middle of 2022. The Washington Post reported that on Sunday, Instagram lifted its suspension on Kennedy’s account.
Meta spokesperson Andy Stone told WaPo his account was reinstated because “he is now an active candidate for president of the United States.” Children’s Health Defense remains banned on both platforms. Gizmodo reached out to Meta for comment about its misinformation and candidate policies, but we did not immediately hear back.
Source: https://gizmodo.com/jack-dorsey-robert-f-kennedy-jr-2024-instagram-1850505777
