Warning of ‘societal threat’ presented by health disinformation

The medical journal The Lancet has warned about the ‘destructive and damaging’ effects of disinformation on public health in an editorial published this week.
 
In the most recent edition, its article ‘Health in the age of disinformation’ highlights the rise of misleading and incorrect content, suggesting the COVID-19 pandemic marked a turning point.
 
Greater social media use as well as ‘politically charged interpretations’ of the pandemic have undermined public trust and held back collective action, its writers argue.
 
‘Today, misleading social media content pervades information on cancer prevention and treatment; can lead patients to abandon evidence-based treatments in favour of influencer-backed alternatives; downplays the seriousness of mental health conditions; and promotes unregulated supplements claiming to work for everything from weight loss to reversal of ageing,’ the article states.  
 
‘Disinformation has become a deliberate instrument to attack and discredit scientists and health professionals for political gains.
 
‘The effects are destructive and damaging to public health.’
 
The Lancet’s editorial also criticised the recent move by Meta – owner of Facebook – to dispense with fact-checkers, saying that the decision represents a failure by technology companies to acknowledge the seriousness of the threat of disinformation.
 
‘Facebook (like other social networks) was already a major source of health misinformation, but although fact-checking cannot fully eliminate inaccurate material, it makes a difference, and its removal opens the floodgates for harmful content,’ the editorial states.
 
Previously, newsGP has reported on studies suggesting a significant shift in the way patients consume and source health information, with social media influencers gaining increasing traction.
 
The Lancet noted some positive recent developments, including plans in Australia to fine platforms that allow the spread of misinformation.
 
While acknowledging the challenges of content generated by artificial intelligence (AI), it also said that AI could be used to flag content with no scientific basis.
 
However, it warned that countering misleading health information needs a proactive approach from governments, science communicators and the medical community.
 
‘Misinformation and disinformation can no longer be viewed simply as an academic nuisance, but rather they are a societal threat,’ The Lancet editorial said.
 
‘Only if we recognise that threat and act proportionately can we respond to the danger and combat the tide of misinformation and disinformation that has the potential to seriously undermine public health.’
 
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