Important:

This petition was submitted during the 2017-2019 parliament

Rejected petition Criminalise the advancement and dissemination of anti-vaccination material.

Measles, a life threatening illness, is at its highest level in Europe in 20 years. Andrew Wakefield, a discredited former British doctor, and others have spread their malevolent falsehoods through the internet to the UK. This has then spread amongst those who have no real understanding of science.

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Andrew Wakefield's work and that by others of his ilk have been discredited by hundreds of peer reviewed papers and yet anti-vaccination theories are spreading due to anecdote and unsubstantiated pseudoscience. The internet gives "anti-vaxers" a voice that they would otherwise not have. The spread of these ideas is not dissimilar to the doctrines of the religious fundamentalist.

This petition was rejected

Why was this petition rejected?

It’s not clear what the petition is asking the UK Government or Parliament to do.

We can't accept your petition because we aren't sure what action you would like the UK Government or Parliament to take.

We understand that you are concerned about vaccination rates but we aren't sure exactly what material you would like to criminalise.

You could start a new petition calling on the Government to fund campaigns promoting vaccination if that is something you would like to see happen.

We only reject petitions that don’t meet the petition standards.