Misinformation, Freedom of Expression and Mandatory Vaccination
Abstract
(2024), Roland Pierik and Marcel Verweij develop an account of collective immunization according to which liberal-democratic governments are sometimes justified in restricting people's freedom to refuse vaccination. In this commentary, I focus on a specific argument in the book about misinformation, freedom of expression and mandatory vaccination. Pierik and Verweij argue that, when vaccine misinformation threatens vaccination rates, governments-in order to increase or maintain vaccination rates-should consider mandatory vaccination before restricting freedom of expression. I summarize the argument and raise two issues to help advance the debate.
Fields of Study & Subjects
Vaccine Coverage and Hesitancy
Misinformation and Its Impacts
Hate Speech and Cyberbullying Detection
Publication details
- Journal / source
- Public Health Ethics
- Publisher
- Oxford University Press (OUP)
- Volume
- 19
- Issue
- 2
- Pages
- phag013–phag013
- Publication date
- 26 March 2026
- Language
- EN