Question

How does fake news relate to the public health today?

Answer 1

April Fool’s Day and humor in the form of fake news can be an antidote to anxiety - but spreading false news on diseases like cancer and the coronavirus is no longer funny when it endangers lives.

One of the challenges today is to face fake news (false information) in health due to its potential impact on people’s lives. This article contributes to a new application of social impact in social media (SISM) methodology. It focuses on the social impact of the research to identify what type of health information is false and what type of information is evidence of the social impact shared in social media. Fake news has been defined as fabricated information that imitates news media content in form but not in organizational process or intent, which overlaps with other information disorders, such as misinformation—false or misleading information—and disinformation, which is false information that is deliberately disseminated to deceive people

False and misleading medical information about a range of diseases has been circulating widely on social media for several years, posing a potential threat to public health(link is external) as it spreads rapidly and effectively. These days this sort of enticing news is everywhere we look – and wouldn’t it be great if we could lose weight on an all-chocolate diet (just me?)! But behind these attention-grabbing news stories lies a real risk to the future of public health messaging. fake news can be related in many ways in public health:

• Fake news concerning health on social media represents a risk to global health. The WHO warned in February 2020 that the COVID-19 outbreak had been accompanied by a massive ‘infodemic’, or an overabundance of information—some of which was accurate and some of which was not—which made it difficult for people to find reliable sources and trustworthy information when they needed it consequences of disinformation overload are the spread of uncertainty, fear, anxiety, and racism on a scale not seen in previous epidemics, such as SARS, MERS, and Zika.
• Therefore, the WHO is dedicating tremendous efforts aimed at providing evidence-based information and advice to the population through its social media channels
• False information not only is misleading and fuels anxiety but is also potentially dangerous when it suggests prevention measures or cures that are dangerous to a person’s health.”
• A claim that eating nothing but meat will lead to rapid weight loss is acute since it can be easily corrected by health authorities sharing facts to the contrary. In contrast, chronic misinformation is usually linked to personal or cultural beliefs or norms, and is therefore more difficult to remedy even when there is data to the contrary.
• For one, studies suggest that false information spreads more quickly than truth on social media platforms. And the way misinformation or rumors spread on social media varies by topic.
• actors generating misinformation on diet and exercise, might differ from those spreading anti-vaccination messages. The spread of anti-vaccine content is aided by bots and trolls, while major contributors of diet and exercise misinformation might include companies, celebrities, and social media influencers.
• Another reason why limiting misinformation content is challenging is that claims are not always explicitly stated but the information is presented in a way that allows individuals to draw unsafe conclusions.
• The most extensively studied topics involving misinformation in health are vaccination, Ebola and the Zika virus, as well as nutrition, cancer, the fluoridation of water and smoking
• Disinformation spread by the anti-vaccine movement has led to episodes regarding vaccination provoking easily preventable disasters, such as the measles epidemic in Washington state (January 2019). The spread of false information also explains a decrease in immunization behaviors with respect to measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccinations,
• The influence of social media discourses may differ depending on age, culture or gender

HOW TO AVOID THESE FAKE NEWS:

1. have anti-fake news agencies who attempt to counter the false information about the disease when the news source cannot be removed from social media, and work together with health bodies to provide accurate medical advice.
2. follow official advice to check the reliability of any news sources claiming to offer medical advice.
3. To limit the spread of misinformation, we have to first identify a particular message as  misinformation. This is easier for certain types of health misinformation (such as anti-vaccine messages) than others.
4. Improved eHealth Literacy - Evidence suggests that critical thinking is a skill that can be taught, and new resources to teach ehealth and media literacy are becoming increasingly available

5. Using the Internet Collaboratively with Physicians.

   Although laypeople may not always have the expertise to separate health myths from facts, the internet can be an extremely powerful tool when individuals collaborate with their physicians.

6. Creation and Distribution of Accurate Information

   Ideally, scientists would create quality information, and the media would communicate it accurately to the public. Unfortunately, the peer-review process does not always guarantee high-quality science.