In The Politics of Autism, I analyze the discredited notion that vaccines cause autism. This bogus idea can hurt people by allowing diseases to spread. And among those diseases could be COVID-19.
Antivaxxers are sometimes violent, often abusive, and always wrong.
Earlier this month, Bloomberg reported that Black doctors are often working double duty, treating patients during the day and combatting misinformation on Clubhouse at night. Some of the doctors that have done this tell Motherboard that they have been harassed and threatened by vaccine skeptics and their followers.
Much of this has centered around Chakabars Clarke, an entrepreneur, wellness influencer, and anti-vaxxer with a million Instagram followers moderated a room on Clubhouse where he questioned the validity of vaccine information being presented by “mainly Europeans.” Clarke has 15,600 followers on Clubhouse and his rooms regularly reach upwards of a thousand audience members.
Like most viral rooms on Clubhouse, the conversation spilled over to Twitter, where users have condemned Clarke.
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Black doctors who have spent time debunking antivax conspiracy theories say they have been threatened by some of Clarke's followers, which has become a major topic of conversation among people in these rooms and became a broader discussion on Twitter, with comedian Tiffany Haddish defending Clarke.
Clarke did not respond to a request for comment from Motherboard, but told Insider that he denied "spreading information about the vaccine." At one point, Clarke was temporarily suspended from Clubhouse.
