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Wikipedia

Children's Health Defense

February 03, 2024

For the children's rights and educational non-profit, see Children's Defense Fund.

Children's Health Defense (CHD) is an American 501(c)(3) nonprofit activist group mainly known for anti-vaccine disinformation, and which has been called one of the main sources of misinformation on vaccines.[1][2][3][4][5] Founded under the name World Mercury Project in 2007, it is chaired by Robert F. Kennedy Jr.[6][7] The group has been campaigning against various public health programs, such as vaccination and fluoridation of drinking water.[8] The group has been contributing to vaccine hesitancy in the United States, encouraging citizens and legislators to support anti-vaccine regulations and legislation.[9][10] Arguments against vaccination are contradicted by overwhelming scientific consensus about the safety and effectiveness of vaccines.[11][12][13][14] Its $15-million budget is funded through donations from individuals (both directly and anonymized through foundations) and affiliate marketing revenues.

Children's Health Defense
Formation2007; 17 years ago (2007)
FounderEric Gladen
Founded atWashington, D.C.
TypeAdvocacy group
Location
Chairman
Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
On leave since April 2023
Vice Chairman
J.B. Handley
Brian Hooker, Katie Wright, Mary Holland, Terena Thyne Eisner
Websitechildrenshealthdefense.org
Formerly called
World Mercury Project

Background

Children's Health Defense alleges that a large proportion of American children have conditions as diverse as autism, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, food allergies, cancer, and autoimmune diseases due to exposure to a variety of chemicals and radiation.[15] The chemicals and radiation that Children's Health Defense has blamed and campaigned against include vaccines, pesticides, fluoridation of drinking water, paracetamol (acetaminophen), aluminum, wireless communications, and others.[16][17] It has brought lawsuits targeting pesticides in food and agriculture.[18]

Named the World Mercury Project until 2018,[19][1] Children's Health Defense is an influential anti-vaccine organization due to the prominence of its Chairman, Robert F. Kennedy Jr.[9][10][8] Kennedy has been on leave since the start of his campaign as candidate for the position of President of the United States in April 2023. As a non-profit group, Children's Health Defense may not endorse political candidates; in November 2023 however, the group gave its first Defender Award to Kennedy for "his courage and steadfast commitment to truth and liberty".[20]

On February 15, 2017, with other anti-vaccination activists and actor Robert De Niro at his side, Kennedy challenged anybody to prove the use of thimerosal is safe "in the amounts contained in vaccines currently being administered to American children and pregnant women", ignoring a 1999 Food and Drug Administration review doing just that. Although the use of thimerosal in vaccines was phased out by 2001 (with one exception), this mercury compound is still often referred to by anti-vaccination groups.[10][21][22] Overwhelming evidence indicates that vaccines are safe and effective.[10][23]

Kennedy met with Donald Trump in January 2017. While Kennedy claimed the President agreed to establish a commission to study the risks allegedly associated with vaccines, government officials denied any decision was taken and nothing subsequently came of it.[24][25]

Alleging widespread corruption within health care research and collusion by multiple governments, the group endorsed a recent edition of the book Judy Mikovits wrote about her discredited theories, with Kennedy writing the foreword.[8] Kennedy's book The Real Anthony Fauci, published in 2021, repeats several discredited myths about the COVID-19 pandemic, notably about the effectiveness of ivermectin.[7] During the pandemic, the group accused the United States government of supporting research on a vaccine as part of a plan to increase revenues for the pharmaceutical industry.[15]

The growth of the group during the pandemic gave rise to international chapters, notably in Canada, Europe and Australia.[7]

Anti-vaccination campaigns

Children's Health Defense is using social media and internet advertising to propagate anti-vaccination messages, targeting young parents and minorities in the United States.[1][2] During the COVID-19 pandemic, those communications attempted to downplay the risk posed by the virus, to argue the new vaccines are dangerous, and to undermine public health authorities. The Center for Countering Digital Hate identifies the group as one of the leaders of the anti-vaccination movement online.[3]

The organization also organized rallies against public health measures aiming at mitigating the impact of the pandemic, such as the one in Washington on January 23, 2022. This particular demonstration featured other leaders of the American anti-vaccination movement such as Del Bigtree; both Kennedy and Bigtree compared vaccine mandates to oppression in Nazi-occupied countries during World War II. The demonstration was also attended by a group from neo-fascist organization Proud Boys.[26][27][28]

CHD targets Black Americans with messaging linking COVID-19 vaccination with the Tuskegee Syphilis Study and other instances when ethical violations have been committed against minorities as part of medical studies. Such interventions are likely to hurt the Black community by increasing vaccine hesitancy within that vulnerable population.[29] Echoing other actors in the anti-vaccination movement and Nation of Islam, Children's Health Defense claims that the United States government seeks to harm ethnic minorities by prioritizing them for COVID vaccines. The conspiracy theory is elaborated upon in an hour-long video production Medical Racism: The New Apartheid released in March 2021 by Children's Health Defense and Kennedy. The video also contains recycled anti-vaccination stories about autism, Bill Gates and the Centers for Disease Control. Like other such conspiracy theory videos, it inserts true historical events into its narrative to make its fantastic claims appear more believable.[1][30]

The organization's social media channels have been shown to amplify conspiracy theories common to other anti-vaccination groups as well as QAnon, such as the "Great Reset" and the "Deep state".[3][31][32] A regular output of videos under the heading of "CHD TV" presents their audience with commentary and interviews related to various conspiracy theories.[33]

A study found Children's Health Defense was one of major buyers of anti-vaccine Facebook advertising in December 2018 and February 2019, the other being Stop Mandatory Vaccination. Heavily targeting women and young couples, the advertising highlighted the alleged risks of vaccines and asked for donations.[2][34] According to an analysis by NBC News, the group is one of three major sources of false claims on vaccination shared on the internet, the other two being the fake news site Natural News and the website Stop Mandatory Vaccination.[4] Facebook subsequently refused to carry anti-vaccination advertising from the group.[35][1]

Children's Health Defense said that the efficacy of its non-advertising Facebook campaigns has been greatly affected by the platform taking additional measures against misinformation in 2019. In a lawsuit filed with the United States District Court for the Northern District of California in August 2020, against Facebook and four fact-checking services, the group said the viewership of some of its posts on vaccination and 5G wireless was reduced by 95% after they were labelled as misinformation. Even though those messages were allowed to be posted by the group and shared by users, Children Health Defense argues that labelling them as misinformation amounts to censorship; they allege their messages are presented merely as opinions rather than information and as such, cannot be characterized as misinformation.[8][35][36][37] The organization is seeking $5 million in damages.[1]

In January 2023, CHD filed a complaint alleging the efforts of major news outlets to limit the spread of COVID-19 misinformation amount to a violation to the Sherman Antitrust Act. The complaint targets The Washington Post, the BBC, Associated Press and Reuters. Along with CHD and Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., the plaintiffs include other major spreaders of misinformation, including Joseph Mercola, Ty and Charlene Bollinger, Erin Elizabeth, Ben Tapper, Ben Swann and Jim Hoft. They present themselves as "online news publishers" victimized by media policies aiming at providing accurate reporting of COVID-related information.[38][39] The case will be heard by United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas judge Matthew Kacsmaryk.[40]

Funding

From $13,000 in annual revenue in 2014, World Mercury Project brought in $470,000 in revenue in 2015, when Kennedy joined the organization. Its revenues increased to $1.1 million in 2018. With the group becoming a major disinformation hub during the COVID-19 pandemic, its revenue reached $6.8 million in 2020, then $15 million in 2021, counting among its new donors LimeWire's founder Mark Gorton.[7][41]

The charitable foundations of several major investment firms funneled anonymized donations to Children's Health Defense: Fidelity Charitable provided $1 million to Children's Health Defense and some of its state chapters in 2021-2022; The Vanguard Group's foundation gave $1.5 million to the national group and its California chapter between 2020 and 2022; Morgan Stanley's fund $680,000 provided to the national group and its New York chapter in 2020 and 2021. In addition, the National Christian Foundation gave a total of $630,000 to the group in 2020 and 2021. Smaller anonymized donations received during the COVID-19 pandemic included Fairfield County’s Community Foundation ($200,000) and the Chicago Community Trust ($100,000).[42]

The organization receives a portion of the sales of Ty Bollinger's anti-vaccination video series, which it promotes.[43] Despite its messaging impeding the government's efforts to limit the spread of COVID-19, Children's Health Defense received $145,400 in federally backed small business loans through the Paycheck Protection Program from JPMorgan Chase in 2020.[44][45][46] The 2021 tax return for Children's Health Defense indicates that Kennedy was paid above $500,000 for his services as chairman and chief counsel for the organization.[47]

Children's Health Defense initiated a number of court cases, with little success. Requests for contributions to its litigation funds are a major component of its fundraising activities.[38]

Criticism

Despite Kennedy's claims that he is not against vaccines,[8][48][49] several critics point out he and his organization spread common anti-vaccine arguments as part of their core messages. According to David Gorski, the World Mercury project was "a group dedicated to fear mongering over mercury in vaccines as a cause of autism and health problems". Kennedy has stated the media and governments are engaged in a conspiracy to deny that vaccines cause autism.[10][23]

Other misinformation promoted by Children's Health Defense is a conspiracy theory in relation to the Great Reset that claims that elites, including Bill Gates, plan to take over the United States and establish a Marxist high-control regime.[44]

On May 8, 2019, while some areas in the United States were struggling with a resurgence of measles due to low vaccination rates, Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, Joseph P. Kennedy and Maeve Kennedy McKean publicly stated that while their relative Robert has championed many admirable causes, he "has helped to spread dangerous misinformation over social media and is complicit in sowing distrust of the science behind vaccines."[50]

In August 2022, the organization's accounts on Meta platforms, Facebook and Instagram, were terminated for repeatedly breaching the platforms' policies.[51] While Instagram had removed Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s account from its platform in February 2021, it had yet to take any measure against the Children's Health Defense account. Between Instagram and Facebook, the organization had a reach of 300,000 subscribers in 2021.[52][53][54]

Lawsuits

Children's Health Defense has initiated a number of court cases against governments, agencies, and media companies, all of which are pending or have been dismissed.

On April 19, 2019, the Kings County (New York) Supreme Court dismissed a lawsuit in which Robert Krakow, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Patricia Finn of Children's Health Defense represented five parents of unvaccinated children protesting the decision by New York City authorities to impose mandatory measles-mumps-rubella vaccinations for residents in parts of Williamsburg, New York, as a response to the epidemic of measles in that area. The lawsuit was filed four days earlier against the New York City Department of Health and Human Hygiene and its commissioner.[55][56] In his ruling, Judge Lawrence Knipel said that the arguments presented by the plaintiffs amounted to little more than "unsupported, bald faced opinion". Responding to Children's Health Defense's claims that the city's reaction to a "garden-variety annual measles outbreak" was excessive, the judge pointed out that the documents filed as evidence in fact demonstrated otherwise. He concluded that "the unvarnished truth is that these diagnoses represent the most significant spike in incidences of measles in the United States in many years and that the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn is at its epicenter. It has already begun to spread to remote locations."[56][57]

On August 17, 2020, Children's Health Defense sued Poynter Institute for Media Studies, Facebook, and Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg, claiming that Politifact censored a truthful public health statement about vaccines through its fact checking. The case was dismissed for failure to state an actionable claim on June 30, 2021.[58] Children's Health Defense has appealed.

On August 16, 2021, Children's Health Defense sued Rutgers because of their vaccine mandate. A federal court dismissed the suit on September 23, 2022.[59]

On August 31, 2021, Children's Health Defense sued the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for approving the COVID-19 vaccine for children. The federal court dismissed the complaint with prejudice for lack of jurisdiction on January 12, 2023.[60] CHD has appealed.

On January 10, 2023, Children's Health Defense sued Reuters, AP, BBC, and the Washington Post in an antitrust suit, claiming that these groups were working together to keep certain opinions out of the media. As of April 2023, the lawsuit is pending before Judge Kacsmaryk in Texas.[61]

On January 25, 2023, Children's Health Defense sued the FDA under Freedom of Information Act to force release of Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System data. The lawsuit is pending.[citation needed]

On April 12, 2023, Children's Health Defense sued the National Institutes of Health for failing to produce documents related to correspondence between NIH researchers and individuals who contacted the agency regarding adverse events they experienced after receiving the COVID-19 vaccine. The lawsuit is pending.[citation needed]

See also

References

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  31. ^ Ecarma, Caleb (April 6, 2023). "Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s Presidential Bid Is Doomed to Fail. But That's Not the Point". Vanity Fair. Retrieved May 25, 2023.
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  35. ^ a b Robertson, Adi (August 18, 2020). "Anti-vaccination group sues Facebook over fact-checking program". The Verge. from the original on August 19, 2020. Retrieved August 20, 2020.
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  39. ^ "United States District Court Northern District of Texas Amarillo Division - Children's Health Defense, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Trialsite Inc, Creative Destruction Media LLC, Erin Elizabeth Finn, Jim Hoft, Dr. Ben Tapper, Ben Swann, Dr. Joseph Mercola, Ty Bollinger & Charlene Bollinger (Plaintiffs) vs. The Washington Post Co., The British Broadcasting Corp., The Associated Press, & Reuters (Defendants)" (PDF). Children's Health Defense. January 10, 2023. (PDF) from the original on February 13, 2023. Retrieved February 25, 2023.
  40. ^ Millhiser, Ian (January 25, 2023). "Trump's worst judge is now a dangerous threat to press freedom". Vox. from the original on March 5, 2023. Retrieved March 11, 2023.
  41. ^ Schwartz, Brian (May 18, 2023). "Meet the Wall Street executive funding Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s anti-vaccine group". CNBC. from the original on May 19, 2023. Retrieved July 12, 2023.
  42. ^ Bragman, Walker; Kotch, Alex (October 19, 2023). "America's Biggest Charities Bankrolled RFK Jr.'s Anti-Vax Outfit". Rolling Stone. from the original on October 19, 2023. Retrieved October 19, 2023.
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  44. ^ a b Dwoskin, Elizabeth; Gregg, Aaron (January 18, 2021). "The Trump administration bailed out prominent anti-vaccine groups during a pandemic". The Washington Post. Retrieved January 18, 2021.
  45. ^ "FederalPay.org PPP Loan Data — Children's Health Defense Co., Peachtree City, GA". FederalPay.org. from the original on January 19, 2021. Retrieved January 18, 2021.
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  47. ^ "The conspiracy candidate: What RFK Jr.'s anti-vaccine crusade could look like in the White House". NBC News. June 19, 2023. from the original on May 19, 2023. Retrieved July 12, 2023.
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  57. ^ C.F., on her own behalf and on behalf of her minor children; M.F., on her own behalf and on behalf of her minor children; B.D., on her own behalf and on behalf of her minor children; M.N., on her own behalf and on behalf of her minor child; and A.L., on her own behalf and on behalf of her minor child (Petitioners) vs. The New York City City Department of Health and Human Hygiene, and Dr. Oxisris Barbot, in her official capacity as Commissioner of the New York City City Department of Health and Human Hygiene (Respondents)., 508356/19 (Supreme Court of the State of New York April 18, 2019).
  58. ^ Washington, District of Columbia 1800 I. Street NW; Dc 20006. "PolitiFact - Federal judge dismisses lawsuit involving PolitiFact". @politifact. Retrieved April 27, 2023.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  59. ^ "Rutgers Defeats Challenge to Mandatory Covid-19 Vaccine Policy". news.bloomberglaw.com. Retrieved April 27, 2023.
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External links

  • Official website
  • Children's Hospital of Philadelphia - Vaccine Education Center

February 03, 2024
children, health, defense, children, rights, educational, profit, children, defense, fund, american, nonprofit, activist, group, mainly, known, anti, vaccine, disinformation, which, been, called, main, sources, misinformation, vaccines, founded, under, name, w. For the children s rights and educational non profit see Children s Defense Fund Children s Health Defense CHD is an American 501 c 3 nonprofit activist group mainly known for anti vaccine disinformation and which has been called one of the main sources of misinformation on vaccines 1 2 3 4 5 Founded under the name World Mercury Project in 2007 it is chaired by Robert F Kennedy Jr 6 7 The group has been campaigning against various public health programs such as vaccination and fluoridation of drinking water 8 The group has been contributing to vaccine hesitancy in the United States encouraging citizens and legislators to support anti vaccine regulations and legislation 9 10 Arguments against vaccination are contradicted by overwhelming scientific consensus about the safety and effectiveness of vaccines 11 12 13 14 Its 15 million budget is funded through donations from individuals both directly and anonymized through foundations and affiliate marketing revenues Children s Health DefenseFormation2007 17 years ago 2007 FounderEric GladenFounded atWashington D C TypeAdvocacy groupLocationPeachtree City GeorgiaChairmanRobert F Kennedy Jr On leave since April 2023Vice ChairmanJ B HandleyBoard of directorsBrian Hooker Katie Wright Mary Holland Terena Thyne EisnerWebsitechildrenshealthdefense wbr orgFormerly calledWorld Mercury Project Contents 1 Background 2 Anti vaccination campaigns 3 Funding 4 Criticism 5 Lawsuits 6 See also 7 References 8 External linksBackgroundChildren s Health Defense alleges that a large proportion of American children have conditions as diverse as autism attention deficit hyperactivity disorder food allergies cancer and autoimmune diseases due to exposure to a variety of chemicals and radiation 15 The chemicals and radiation that Children s Health Defense has blamed and campaigned against include vaccines pesticides fluoridation of drinking water paracetamol acetaminophen aluminum wireless communications and others 16 17 It has brought lawsuits targeting pesticides in food and agriculture 18 Named the World Mercury Project until 2018 19 1 Children s Health Defense is an influential anti vaccine organization due to the prominence of its Chairman Robert F Kennedy Jr 9 10 8 Kennedy has been on leave since the start of his campaign as candidate for the position of President of the United States in April 2023 As a non profit group Children s Health Defense may not endorse political candidates in November 2023 however the group gave its first Defender Award to Kennedy for his courage and steadfast commitment to truth and liberty 20 On February 15 2017 with other anti vaccination activists and actor Robert De Niro at his side Kennedy challenged anybody to prove the use of thimerosal is safe in the amounts contained in vaccines currently being administered to American children and pregnant women ignoring a 1999 Food and Drug Administration review doing just that Although the use of thimerosal in vaccines was phased out by 2001 with one exception this mercury compound is still often referred to by anti vaccination groups 10 21 22 Overwhelming evidence indicates that vaccines are safe and effective 10 23 Kennedy met with Donald Trump in January 2017 While Kennedy claimed the President agreed to establish a commission to study the risks allegedly associated with vaccines government officials denied any decision was taken and nothing subsequently came of it 24 25 Alleging widespread corruption within health care research and collusion by multiple governments the group endorsed a recent edition of the book Judy Mikovits wrote about her discredited theories with Kennedy writing the foreword 8 Kennedy s book The Real Anthony Fauci published in 2021 repeats several discredited myths about the COVID 19 pandemic notably about the effectiveness of ivermectin 7 During the pandemic the group accused the United States government of supporting research on a vaccine as part of a plan to increase revenues for the pharmaceutical industry 15 The growth of the group during the pandemic gave rise to international chapters notably in Canada Europe and Australia 7 Anti vaccination campaignsChildren s Health Defense is using social media and internet advertising to propagate anti vaccination messages targeting young parents and minorities in the United States 1 2 During the COVID 19 pandemic those communications attempted to downplay the risk posed by the virus to argue the new vaccines are dangerous and to undermine public health authorities The Center for Countering Digital Hate identifies the group as one of the leaders of the anti vaccination movement online 3 The organization also organized rallies against public health measures aiming at mitigating the impact of the pandemic such as the one in Washington on January 23 2022 This particular demonstration featured other leaders of the American anti vaccination movement such as Del Bigtree both Kennedy and Bigtree compared vaccine mandates to oppression in Nazi occupied countries during World War II The demonstration was also attended by a group from neo fascist organization Proud Boys 26 27 28 CHD targets Black Americans with messaging linking COVID 19 vaccination with the Tuskegee Syphilis Study and other instances when ethical violations have been committed against minorities as part of medical studies Such interventions are likely to hurt the Black community by increasing vaccine hesitancy within that vulnerable population 29 Echoing other actors in the anti vaccination movement and Nation of Islam Children s Health Defense claims that the United States government seeks to harm ethnic minorities by prioritizing them for COVID vaccines The conspiracy theory is elaborated upon in an hour long video production Medical Racism The New Apartheid released in March 2021 by Children s Health Defense and Kennedy The video also contains recycled anti vaccination stories about autism Bill Gates and the Centers for Disease Control Like other such conspiracy theory videos it inserts true historical events into its narrative to make its fantastic claims appear more believable 1 30 The organization s social media channels have been shown to amplify conspiracy theories common to other anti vaccination groups as well as QAnon such as the Great Reset and the Deep state 3 31 32 A regular output of videos under the heading of CHD TV presents their audience with commentary and interviews related to various conspiracy theories 33 A study found Children s Health Defense was one of major buyers of anti vaccine Facebook advertising in December 2018 and February 2019 the other being Stop Mandatory Vaccination Heavily targeting women and young couples the advertising highlighted the alleged risks of vaccines and asked for donations 2 34 According to an analysis by NBC News the group is one of three major sources of false claims on vaccination shared on the internet the other two being the fake news site Natural News and the website Stop Mandatory Vaccination 4 Facebook subsequently refused to carry anti vaccination advertising from the group 35 1 Children s Health Defense said that the efficacy of its non advertising Facebook campaigns has been greatly affected by the platform taking additional measures against misinformation in 2019 In a lawsuit filed with the United States District Court for the Northern District of California in August 2020 against Facebook and four fact checking services the group said the viewership of some of its posts on vaccination and 5G wireless was reduced by 95 after they were labelled as misinformation Even though those messages were allowed to be posted by the group and shared by users Children Health Defense argues that labelling them as misinformation amounts to censorship they allege their messages are presented merely as opinions rather than information and as such cannot be characterized as misinformation 8 35 36 37 The organization is seeking 5 million in damages 1 In January 2023 CHD filed a complaint alleging the efforts of major news outlets to limit the spread of COVID 19 misinformation amount to a violation to the Sherman Antitrust Act The complaint targets The Washington Post the BBC Associated Press and Reuters Along with CHD and Robert F Kennedy Jr the plaintiffs include other major spreaders of misinformation including Joseph Mercola Ty and Charlene Bollinger Erin Elizabeth Ben Tapper Ben Swann and Jim Hoft They present themselves as online news publishers victimized by media policies aiming at providing accurate reporting of COVID related information 38 39 The case will be heard by United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas judge Matthew Kacsmaryk 40 FundingFrom 13 000 in annual revenue in 2014 World Mercury Project brought in 470 000 in revenue in 2015 when Kennedy joined the organization Its revenues increased to 1 1 million in 2018 With the group becoming a major disinformation hub during the COVID 19 pandemic its revenue reached 6 8 million in 2020 then 15 million in 2021 counting among its new donors LimeWire s founder Mark Gorton 7 41 The charitable foundations of several major investment firms funneled anonymized donations to Children s Health Defense Fidelity Charitable provided 1 million to Children s Health Defense and some of its state chapters in 2021 2022 The Vanguard Group s foundation gave 1 5 million to the national group and its California chapter between 2020 and 2022 Morgan Stanley s fund 680 000 provided to the national group and its New York chapter in 2020 and 2021 In addition the National Christian Foundation gave a total of 630 000 to the group in 2020 and 2021 Smaller anonymized donations received during the COVID 19 pandemic included Fairfield County s Community Foundation 200 000 and the Chicago Community Trust 100 000 42 The organization receives a portion of the sales of Ty Bollinger s anti vaccination video series which it promotes 43 Despite its messaging impeding the government s efforts to limit the spread of COVID 19 Children s Health Defense received 145 400 in federally backed small business loans through the Paycheck Protection Program from JPMorgan Chase in 2020 44 45 46 The 2021 tax return for Children s Health Defense indicates that Kennedy was paid above 500 000 for his services as chairman and chief counsel for the organization 47 Children s Health Defense initiated a number of court cases with little success Requests for contributions to its litigation funds are a major component of its fundraising activities 38 CriticismDespite Kennedy s claims that he is not against vaccines 8 48 49 several critics point out he and his organization spread common anti vaccine arguments as part of their core messages According to David Gorski the World Mercury project was a group dedicated to fear mongering over mercury in vaccines as a cause of autism and health problems Kennedy has stated the media and governments are engaged in a conspiracy to deny that vaccines cause autism 10 23 Other misinformation promoted by Children s Health Defense is a conspiracy theory in relation to the Great Reset that claims that elites including Bill Gates plan to take over the United States and establish a Marxist high control regime 44 On May 8 2019 while some areas in the United States were struggling with a resurgence of measles due to low vaccination rates Kathleen Kennedy Townsend Joseph P Kennedy and Maeve Kennedy McKean publicly stated that while their relative Robert has championed many admirable causes he has helped to spread dangerous misinformation over social media and is complicit in sowing distrust of the science behind vaccines 50 In August 2022 the organization s accounts on Meta platforms Facebook and Instagram were terminated for repeatedly breaching the platforms policies 51 While Instagram had removed Robert F Kennedy Jr s account from its platform in February 2021 it had yet to take any measure against the Children s Health Defense account Between Instagram and Facebook the organization had a reach of 300 000 subscribers in 2021 52 53 54 LawsuitsChildren s Health Defense has initiated a number of court cases against governments agencies and media companies all of which are pending or have been dismissed On April 19 2019 the Kings County New York Supreme Court dismissed a lawsuit in which Robert Krakow Robert F Kennedy Jr and Patricia Finn of Children s Health Defense represented five parents of unvaccinated children protesting the decision by New York City authorities to impose mandatory measles mumps rubella vaccinations for residents in parts of Williamsburg New York as a response to the epidemic of measles in that area The lawsuit was filed four days earlier against the New York City Department of Health and Human Hygiene and its commissioner 55 56 In his ruling Judge Lawrence Knipel said that the arguments presented by the plaintiffs amounted to little more than unsupported bald faced opinion Responding to Children s Health Defense s claims that the city s reaction to a garden variety annual measles outbreak was excessive the judge pointed out that the documents filed as evidence in fact demonstrated otherwise He concluded that the unvarnished truth is that these diagnoses represent the most significant spike in incidences of measles in the United States in many years and that the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn is at its epicenter It has already begun to spread to remote locations 56 57 On August 17 2020 Children s Health Defense sued Poynter Institute for Media Studies Facebook and Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg claiming that Politifact censored a truthful public health statement about vaccines through its fact checking The case was dismissed for failure to state an actionable claim on June 30 2021 58 Children s Health Defense has appealed On August 16 2021 Children s Health Defense sued Rutgers because of their vaccine mandate A federal court dismissed the suit on September 23 2022 59 On August 31 2021 Children s Health Defense sued the Food and Drug Administration FDA for approving the COVID 19 vaccine for children The federal court dismissed the complaint with prejudice for lack of jurisdiction on January 12 2023 60 CHD has appealed On January 10 2023 Children s Health Defense sued Reuters AP BBC and the Washington Post in an antitrust suit claiming that these groups were working together to keep certain opinions out of the media As of April 2023 update the lawsuit is pending before Judge Kacsmaryk in Texas 61 On January 25 2023 Children s Health Defense sued the FDA under Freedom of Information Act to force release of Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System data The lawsuit is pending citation needed On April 12 2023 Children s Health Defense sued the National Institutes of Health for failing to produce documents related to correspondence between NIH researchers and individuals who contacted the agency regarding adverse events they experienced after receiving the COVID 19 vaccine The lawsuit is pending citation needed See alsoFreedom Angels Foundation Polio eradication Science MomsReferences a b c d e f Weir Keziah May 13 2021 How Robert F Kennedy Jr Became the Anti vaxxer Icon of America s Nightmares Vanity Fair Archived from the original on July 4 2021 Retrieved July 7 2021 a b c Sun Lena H November 15 2019 Majority of anti vaccine ads on Facebook were funded by two groups Washington Post Archived from the original on November 17 2019 Retrieved November 16 2019 a b c The Anti Vaxx Playbook PDF Report Center for Countering Digital Hate 2020 Archived PDF from the original on December 30 2020 Retrieved January 3 2021 a b Zadrozny Brandy December 29 2019 Social media hosted a lot of fake health news this year Here s what went most viral NBC News Archived from the original on January 3 2020 Retrieved January 3 2020 Profile Guidestar Archived from the original on July 13 2019 Retrieved July 13 2019 Board of Directors Children s Health Defense Archived from the original on April 16 2019 Retrieved July 13 2019 a b c d Smith Michelle R December 15 2021 How a Kennedy built an anti vaccine juggernaut amid COVID 19 Associated Press AP Archived from the original on December 15 2021 Retrieved December 15 2021 a b c d e Radford Benjamin September 24 2020 Covert Anti Vaccination In Children s Health Defense Center for Inquiry Archived from the original on September 25 2020 Retrieved September 25 2020 a b Hotez Peter January 3 2019 Global disease risk worsening as anti vaccination campaigns spread Axios Retrieved February 27 2019 a b c d e Scott Katie February 16 2017 Robert De Niro Robert F Kennedy Jr offer 100K to anyone who can provide proof vaccines are safe Global TV Archived from the original on March 3 2019 Retrieved March 3 2019 Communicating science based messages on vaccines Bulletin of the World Health Organization 95 10 670 71 October 2017 doi 10 2471 BLT 17 021017 PMC 5689193 PMID 29147039 Why do some people oppose vaccination Vox Retrieved November 26 2018 Ceccarelli L Defending science How the art of rhetoric can help The Conversation Retrieved November 26 2018 U S Department of Health and Human Services Vaccines gov Vaccines gov Retrieved August 5 2018 a b Gammon Katarine April 16 2020 How the anti vaccine community is responding to COVID 19 Ars Technica Archived from the original on April 18 2020 Retrieved April 18 2020 The Children s Health Defense Team Fluoridation Must End PRNewswire January 10 2019 Archived from the original on March 3 2019 Retrieved March 3 2019 U S Water Fluoridation A Forced Experiment that Needs to End Children s Health Defense January 9 2019 Archived from the original on March 3 2019 Retrieved March 3 2019 Robert F Kennedy Jr Baum Hedlund Co Counsel Baum Hedlund Law Archived from the original on July 5 2019 Retrieved July 13 2019 Senapathy Kavin December 27 2019 The Top 10 Woo of 2018 Part I Skeptical Inquirer CFI Archived from the original on February 24 2020 Zadrozny Brandy November 3 2023 RFK Jr comes home to his anti vaccine group commits to a break for U S infectious disease research NBC News Archived from the original on November 4 2023 Retrieved November 4 2023 Thimerosal and Vaccines U S Foods and Drugs Administration August 21 2023 Timeline Thimerosal in Vaccines 1999 2010 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention August 19 2020 a b Gorski David April 30 2018 Autism prevalence increases to 1 in 59 and antivaxers lose it yet again Science Based medicine Archived from the original on February 27 2019 Retrieved February 27 2019 Smith David February 21 2018 Trump appears to abandon vaccine sceptic group denounced by scientists The Guardian Archived from the original on March 10 2019 Retrieved March 10 2019 Branswell Helen August 21 2017 As White House appoints pro vaccine officials plan for safety commission appears stalled STAT news Archived from the original on March 10 2019 Retrieved March 10 2019 Voght Kara January 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Fair Retrieved May 25 2023 Lewis Kaitlin April 6 2023 Anti Vaxxer RFK Jr Takes Aim at Joe Biden in More Ways Than One Newsweek Archived from the original on May 17 2023 Retrieved May 25 2023 Jarry Jonathan July 7 2023 I Watched a Week s Worth of RFK Jr s Fear Inducing TV Channel Office for Science and Society Retrieved July 8 2023 Jamison A M Broniatowski D A Dredze M November 13 2019 Vaccine related advertising in the Facebook Ad Archive Vaccine 38 3 512 520 doi 10 1016 j vaccine 2019 10 066 PMC 6954281 PMID 31732327 a b Robertson Adi August 18 2020 Anti vaccination group sues Facebook over fact checking program The Verge Archived from the original on August 19 2020 Retrieved August 20 2020 Cox Kate August 18 2020 Anti vaccine group sues Facebook claims fact checking is censorship Ars Technica Archived from the original on August 19 2020 Retrieved August 20 2020 Verified complaint Children s Health Defense v Facebook et al PDF Ars Technica PDF August 17 2020 Archived PDF from the 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vaccine group CNBC Archived from the original on May 19 2023 Retrieved July 12 2023 Bragman Walker Kotch Alex October 19 2023 America s Biggest Charities Bankrolled RFK Jr s Anti Vax Outfit Rolling Stone Archived from the original on October 19 2023 Retrieved October 19 2023 Pandemic Profiteers PDF Center for Countering Digital Hate Center for Countering Digital Hate June 1 2021 Archived PDF from the original on June 2 2021 Retrieved June 3 2021 a b Dwoskin Elizabeth Gregg Aaron January 18 2021 The Trump administration bailed out prominent anti vaccine groups during a pandemic The Washington Post Retrieved January 18 2021 FederalPay org PPP Loan Data Children s Health Defense Co Peachtree City GA FederalPay org Archived from the original on January 19 2021 Retrieved January 18 2021 Stacy Cowley January 18 2021 Vaccine Critics Received More Than 1 Million in Pandemic Relief Loans The New York Times Retrieved January 19 2021 The conspiracy candidate What RFK Jr s anti vaccine crusade could look like in the White House NBC News June 19 2023 Archived from the original on May 19 2023 Retrieved July 12 2023 Rabin Roni Caryn May 8 2019 Brother and Sister of Robert F Kennedy Jr Accuse Him of Spreading Misinformation on Vaccines The New York Times Archived from the original on June 21 2019 Retrieved June 21 2019 Golgowski Nina May 8 2019 Robert Kennedy Jr s Vaccine Views Slammed As Tragically Wrong By Family Huffington POst Archived from the original on June 21 2019 Retrieved June 21 2019 Kennedy Townsend Kathleen Kennedy Joseph P Kennedy McKean Maeve May 8 2019 RFK Jr Is Our Brother and Uncle He s Tragically Wrong About Vaccines Politico Archived from the original on May 8 2019 Retrieved May 8 2019 Belanger Ashley August 18 2022 Loathsome anti vax group run by RFK Jr gets Meta permaban finally Ars Technica Retrieved August 19 2022 Robinson Olga February 11 2021 Instagram bans Robert F Kennedy Jr over Covid vaccine posts BBC Archived from the original on February 24 2021 Retrieved March 7 2021 Hamilton Isobel Asher February 17 2021 Facebook has launched another crackdown on anti vax misinformation Experts say it doesn t go far enough Business Insider Archived from the original on February 18 2021 Retrieved March 7 2021 Frenkel Sheera February 11 2021 Instagram barred Robert F Kennedy Jr s account Anti vaccine accounts remain The New York Times Archived from the original on March 4 2021 Retrieved March 7 2021 Enman Scott April 16 2019 Anti vaxxers sue city over mandatory measles vaccination Brooklyn Daily Eagle Archived from the original on April 24 2019 Retrieved April 24 2019 a b Enman Scott April 19 2019 Measles outbreak Brooklyn judge dismisses anti vaxxer lawsuit against the city Brooklyn Daily Eagle Archived from the original on April 24 2019 Retrieved April 24 2019 C F on her own behalf and on behalf of her minor children M F on her own behalf and on behalf of her minor children B D on her own behalf and on behalf of her minor children M N on her own behalf and on behalf of her minor child and A L on her own behalf and on behalf of her minor child Petitioners vs The New York City City Department of Health and Human Hygiene and Dr Oxisris Barbot in her official capacity as Commissioner of the New York City City Department of Health and Human Hygiene Respondents 508356 19 Supreme Court of the State of New York April 18 2019 Washington District of Columbia 1800 I Street NW Dc 20006 PolitiFact Federal judge dismisses lawsuit involving PolitiFact politifact Retrieved April 27 2023 a href Template Cite web html title Template Cite web cite web a CS1 maint numeric names authors list link Rutgers Defeats Challenge to Mandatory Covid 19 Vaccine Policy news bloomberglaw com Retrieved April 27 2023 Federal court dismisses lawsuit over FDA authorization of COVID 19 vaccines for children www jurist org January 13 2023 Retrieved April 27 2023 Porterfield Carlie RFK Jr Sues BBC And Other Media Outlets Over Covid Censorship Forbes Retrieved April 27 2023 External linksOfficial website Children s Hospital of Philadelphia Vaccine Education Center Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Children 27s Health Defense amp oldid 1201336533, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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