Jack Dorsey records podcast with fitness writer who claimed ‘vaccines do indeed cause autism’

NelsonG · March 13, 2019

Jack Dorsey, known for making tone-deaf statements on the platform he co-founded, is in the middle of another controversy. This time it is for plugging a podcast he recorded with fitness writer Ben Greenfield. Greenfield has espoused anti-vaccination views on Twitter and other platforms, continuing to do so despite measles outbreaks in the United States.

Dorsey retweeted Greenfield’s tweet about their podcast interview, commenting “Great conversation, and appreciate all you do to simplify the mountain of research focused on increasing one’s healthspan!”

Thanks Ben! Great conversation, and appreciate all you do to simplify the mountain of research focused on increasing one’s healthspan! Grateful for you https://t.co/EDmhE3OKnk

— jack (@jack) March 13, 2019

Greenfield recently doubled down on the disproven claim that vaccines cause autism and has repeatedly included anti-vaccine propaganda on his podcast and social media pages.

Vaccines do indeed cause autism (and for Pete’s sake, don’t trust @snopes for your news on this matter or any other alternative health news): https://t.co/9AFQd6lekk

— Ben Greenfield (@bengreenfield) February 11, 2019

A Twitter spokesperson told TechCrunch that Dorsey, who has done a string of podcast appearances recently, was not aware of Greenfield’s stance on vaccines, his participation in the interview was not an endorsement of them and that the topic was not discussed during their conversation.

Dorsey’s appearance on Greenfield’s show is especially striking considering that other tech companies, including YouTube and Facebook, are currently clamping down on anti-vaccination content. For example, YouTube recently announced it will demonetize anti-vaccination videos, while Facebook is down-ranking vaccine misinformation on its News Feed and hiding it on Instagram. Pinterest, which has prohibited anti-vaccination content in its terms for years, also recently said it will stop returning any search result related to vaccines.

Dorsey recently generated backlash for a tweet thread about his meditation retreat in Myanmar that neglected to mention the Rohingya genocide and declaring that Elon Musk is his favorite Twitter user, despite the fact that Musk’s tweets have landed him in legal trouble, including with the Securities and Exchange Commission.