As a nationwide baby formula shortage sends parents into crisis mode, social media posts containing dangerous misinformation about homemade formula recipes have gone viral online, racking up views in the millions. Although major networks like Facebook, TikTok and YouTube have taken steps to label photos, videos and posts with contextual information pointing to the harms of such recipes, and in some cases removed them, they have done so inconsistently, allowing the advice to continue spreading and putting children at risk.
“Platforms still haven’t learned the lesson that their obsession with engagement is leading them to recommend wildly unsafe content,” said Laura Edelson, a computer scientist studying misinformation at New York University. “The fact that they still have not fixed this issue after years of very clear evidence that their algorithms are promoting dangerous content is shocking.”
Scant availability of formula has been a problem for months because of supply chain disruptions that have affected consumers across major industries, from autos to appliances. But after Abbott Laboratories’ nutrition unit recalled some of its products earlier this year, including its top-selling brand Similac, stockpiles were further depleted, leading parents to try anything — driving for hours to stores that might have stock, or bartering in Facebook groups — to get their babies fed. On Wednesday, President Joe Biden took urgent action to address the crisis, invoking the Defense Production Act to increase production and instructing Defense Department planes to speed formula shipments into the country from overseas.
