Addressing Health-Related Misinformation on Social Media

Abstract

The ubiquitous social media landscape has created an information ecosystem populated by a cacophony of opinion, true and false information, and an unprecedented quantity of data on many topics. Policy makers and the social media industry grapple with the challenge of curbing fake news, disinformation, and hate speech; and the field of medicine is similarly confronted with the spread of false, inaccurate, or incomplete health information. 1 From the discourse on the latest tobacco products, alcohol, and alternative therapies to skepticism about medical guidelines, misinformation on social media can have adverse effects on public health. For example, the social media rumors circulating during the Ebola outbreak in 2014 created hostility toward health workers, posing challenges to efforts to control the epidemic. 2 Another example is the increasingly prevalent antivaccine social media posts that seemingly legitimize debate about vaccine safety and could be contributing to reductions in vaccination rates and increases in vaccine-preventable disease. 3 The spread of health-related misinformation is exacerbated by information silos and echo chamber effects. Social media feeds are personally curated and tailored to individual beliefs, partisan bias, and identity. Consequently, information silos are created in which the likelihood for exchange of differing viewpoints

Coronavirus Goes Viral: Quantifying the COVID-19 Misinformation Epidemic on Twitter

“…Previous reports have highlighted a similar trend during recent public health emergencies, mainly the Ebola and Zika outbreaks [3,4]. Such a phenomenon is alarming on both individual and public health levels to an extent that governing bodies are realizing its gravity and attempting to limit its effects [5][6][7].…”

“…Misinformation can be defined as a "claim of fact that is currently false due to lack of scientific evidence" [5]. It propagates without constraints, does not entail any curation or peer-review, and does not require any professional verifications.…”

Pregnancy and health in the age of the Internet: A content analysis of online “birth club” forums

“…In the realm of pregnancy, however, the data is clear: the vast majority of women are utilizing digital health information during pregnancy and are using that information to inform their decision-making, all while not necessarily mentioning this process (or retrieved information) to their healthcare provider. It is crucial that more scholarly attention be directed to peer-exchange outlets such as online pregnancy forums, especially as "misinformation" is becoming increasingly recognized as a matter of public health importance [48][49][50]. Professional societies may want to consider providing guidelines to health care providers regarding how to navigate their patients' use of online information.…”

Conspiracy beliefs are associated with lower knowledge and higher anxiety levels regarding COVID-19 among students at the University of Jordan

“…These aspects involve the origin of the virus, availability of specific antiviral treatment and effective vaccine, in addition to questioning the accuracy of the recently developed diagnostic modalities [15]. In the current day and age, the widespread access to internet and the extensive use of social media outlets to get information can be a double-edged sword [16][17][18]. On one end, information can be delivered to a huge target population within a short period of time.…”