Giving Compass' Take:

• Morgan Gstalter reports that Pinterest has blocked vaccine searches in order to combat the spread of misinformation about vaccines online. 

• Is this an effective way to combat the anti-vaccine movement? 

• Learn about the counties where the anti-vaccine movement thrives. 

Pinterest has blocked all vaccine-related searches on the social media platform in an effort to combat the “misleading content” of the anti-vaccination movement, a spokesperson said Wednesday.

Speaking in an appearance on CNBC, a spokesman for the online pinboard said it implemented the ban on the searches until it can come up with a more permanent strategy to tackle content attempting to discredit vaccinations.

"We want Pinterest to be an inspiring place for people, and there's nothing inspiring about misinformation," a Pinterest spokesperson said. "That's why we continue to work on new ways of keeping misleading content off our platform and out of our recommendations engine."

Some of the most shared images on Pinterest related to vaccinations contradicted established medical consensus which shows they are safe to use, Pinterest told The Wall Street Journal.

"It’s better not to serve those results than to lead people down what is like a recommendation rabbit hole,” said Ifeoma Ozoma, Pinterest’s public policy and social impact manager.

The Journal, which first reported the ban, found that vaccine-related images are still showing up on the online boards although they will no longer turn up in search results.

The ban on vaccine-related content comes amid a measles outbreak across New York, Washington and Texas predominately amid communities with higher populations of unvaccinated people.

Read the full article about Pinterest's anti-vax ban by Morgan Gstalter at The Hill.