Health in the age of disinformation

Health misinformation (false or misleading data shared unintentionally) and disinformation (deliberately deceptive information) are not new, but the COVID-19 pandemic marked a turning point. The sense of anxiety and urgency, coupled with the rise in the use of social media and politically charged interpretations of the pandemic, fostered the spread of a series of misleading claims about the virus and medical countermeasures. Health misinformation was weaponised as propaganda, exploiting fear, undermining public trust, and hindering collective action in critical moments. 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. 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.