Misinformation surrounding vaccines is on the rise across Europe, as experts link falling immunisation rates to viral posts and political rhetoric.
Credit : Shutterstock, Rattanasak Khuentana
As measles cases hit a 25-year high in Europe, experts say the rise of Robert F Kennedy Jr as US Health Secretary is giving fresh momentum to anti-vaccine narratives—and social media is amplifying them like never before.
In the first three months of 2025 alone, posts connecting RFK Jr and vaccines racked up close to one million interactions in French, German and Italian on X (formerly Twitter), according to researchers at Ripple Research. The worrying part? More than half of the top posts were found to be spreading false or misleading information.
How social media is fuelling vaccine doubts across Europe
Ripple analysed over 220,000 posts shared by 53,000 users between January and March. Spikes in misinformation were seen around RFK Jr’s confirmation hearing, his swearing-in, and after the resignation of vaccine official Dr Peter Marks. Posts often repeated discredited claims about COVID-19 jab safety.
The timing couldn’t be worse: measles cases have doubled in Europe, with the World Health Organization and UNICEF calling it the worst outbreak in decades. According to Alexei Ceban of UNICEF, “We’re seeing a direct link between social media misinformation and falling vaccination rates.”
And it’s not just scepticism—it’s consequences. “Children are dying, or ending up with serious issues like pneumonia and blindness,” he added.
When fringe beliefs go viral: How vaccine misinformation is entering the mainstream
For years, anti-vaccine views were mostly on the fringe. Now, with someone like RFK Jr in a leadership role, those ideas are entering the mainstream. Prof Heidi Larson from the Vaccine Confidence Programme told Euronews: “It’s harder to brush off these claims when they come from a government figure.”
Though Kennedy insists he’s not anti-vaccine—just ‘pro safety’—his comments have become ammunition for conspiracy groups. And it’s not only hardened sceptics who are tuning in. “Even people who were confident about vaccines are starting to question things, just from hearing the same doubts over and over,” Larson said.
Add to that the fact that fact-checking has been rolled back on platforms like X and Meta, and experts say we’re now in dangerous territory. “It’s not just a few rogue posts anymore,” said Larson. ‘It’s a full-on movement.’
Beyond fact-checking: Why a new approach is urgently needed
Larson argues that fact-checking isn’t enough anymore. “This is a different kind of challenge. These groups are organised, multilingual, and fast-moving. We need a fresh strategy to get real, trustworthy info out there.”
UNICEF’s surveys in France and Romania show just how deep this problem goes. Around 50 per cent of parents say social media plays a role in their vaccine decisions.
Meanwhile, scientists stress that vaccines, including the MMR jab, are safe and essential. Even RFK Jr himself recently said the MMR vaccine is ‘the most effective way to stop measles.’ Still, his mixed messages are causing confusion—and experts fear that doubt, once planted, is hard to uproot.
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