Paul Culliford

Many vaccine myths are hard to counter because they start with something real. That kernel gets stretched into a claim that sounds plausible but is not true. Take myocarditis. The kernel is in the official safety data: documented after mRNA vaccines, concentrated in young males after dose 2, usually mild. The extension turned it into “hidden,” “widespread,” and something that happens to everyone who was vaccinated. None of that is supported by the same data. The audience was already primed. Years of earlier claims made the stretched version easy to accept. It sticks because falsehoods spread farther and faster than truths on Twitter (Vosoughi et al., Science, 2018). Part of why it will not go away is that it pays. Some of the people pushing these claims sell something: subscriptions, supplements, donations, attention. Outrage earns followers. After the fact technical corrections do not. Not everyone repeating them is a grifter. Many are sincere. The incentives still keep the supply coming. That is why a lack of human moderation makes it impossible to solve. cc @elonmusk