But Mills believes that criminalising people who intentionally hurt others through false information should also be considered.
“The freedom to debate, and allow the public to raise legitimate vaccine concerns to fill the knowledge void, should not extend to causing malicious harm,” she concludes.
There is no denying that the world would be a better place without misinformation, or that it would be in the public interest for anti-vaccination misinformation not to exist. But criminalising it could make it grow even stronger, argues Jonas Sivelä at the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare.
He acknowledges that civil liberties, including freedom of speech, can and should be restricted in certain cases - for example, when it comes to inciting lawless activities and violence.
But he believes that anti-vaccination misinformation is not such a case.
