Fact Checks ‘Best Way’ To Counter Health Misinformation, Say Americans
When it comes to dealing with health misinformation, Americans are far keener on independent fact-checking than on the X-style Community Notes model.
Widespread health myths continue to spread online, from false claims that vaccinations cause autism and black people have stronger immune systems to the dangerous theory that ivermectin and fenbendazole can cure cancer.
And while X relies on Community Notes, with other users, rather than dedicated teams, chipping in with corrections, Facebook and Instagram owner Meta has until now used teams of fact-checkers to monitor and remove misinformation on its platforms.
However, the company recently announced plans to ditch fact-checking in favor of a similar model to X – a move that, according to Boston University researchers, is unlikely to be popular with users.
In a recent survey, nearly two in three adults told the researchers that if social media posts spread unverified information about a public health issue, it’s acceptable to have this verified by independent fact-checking organizations.
And around the same percentage also said it was acceptable for social media companies to lower the visibility of inaccurate information about public health issues.
By contrast, fewer than half of those surveyed said they supported the community notes model where users write and rate notes that appear next to specific posts—although there were some partisan differences here, with 73% of Democrats, 62% of independents, and 55% of Republicans saying this strategy was their preference.
The researchers say that independent fact checking is by far the more effective method of rooting out misinformation online.
“The results so far of social media platforms relying on users to rate the accuracy of posts are sobering. Despite the presence of the community notes programs, social media platforms that use this model remain rife with misinformation,” said Michelle Amazeen, an associate professor at Boston University’s College of Communication.
“Shifting content moderation responsibilities onto users is yet another instance of platforms avoiding their obligation to ensure the safety of their digital products. Neglecting content moderation puts social media platforms at risk of amplifying disinformation from those in power.”
And Trump’s re-election as president is likely to make the problem worse, said Amazeen.
“Implementing effective accountability measures is crucial, particularly as a new administration with a track record of using disinformation as a tool assumes office,” she said.
The Brookings Institution think tank recently warned of the danger of Robert F. Kennedy Jr’s appointment as secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
Here, he is set to oversee 13 health-related agencies, including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Food and Drug Administration and the National Institutes of Health.
“In recent years, RFK Jr.’s focus has been on promoting conspiracy theories, and his claims have earned him a reputation as one of the leading spreaders of Covid-19 vaccine misinformation,” it said.
“The Covid-19 lockdowns provided anti-vaccine activists a platform to oppose public health interventions, such as social distancing, school closures, and vaccine trials, which provided an opportunity to discredit the development and evaluation process of the Covid-19 vaccines.”
According to a survey of scientists by the International Panel on the Information Environment, social media firms are the biggest threat to a trustworthy online news environment, followed by domestic and foreign governments and politicians—and around two-thirds of respondents said they only expected things to get worse.
