In a study presented at a conference of the Digestive Disease Week in Chicago, a decidedly worrying result has been demonstrated. In fact, each of us is subject to a continuous and uncontrolled barrage of potentially dangerous health misinformation. Does TikTok mean anything to you?
“People should always consult their doctor first for information on their specific medical conditionMacklin Loveland, professor of internal medicine at the University of Arizona College of Medicine and lead author of the study, said in a statement.But we also know that getting health information and tips from social media is extremely common these days“.
After discovering quiet quieting on TikTok, this time the researchers used liver pathologies as the “subject” of the test, study compared thousands of TikTok videos containing the words “cirrhosis” and “liver disease,” all published between October and November 2022, featuring medical practices established by various American associations for the study of liver disease. The result? Definitely dramatic.
Well four out of ten posts were literally disinformationmaking the likelihood of getting something useful from the app very close to a coin toss, i.e. equivalent to pure chance.
“Even though the inaccurate posts were less popular, they still represent a high volume of disinformation on the platformleaving people with liver disease at the mercy of false claims“, Loveland pointed out, further adding that: “Given the high mortality associated with liver disease, the impact of spreading inaccurate claims on such a popular social media platform could have serious clinical consequences“.
So what could be the best solution?
“It is clear that more needs to be done to report misinformation on TikTok, including physicians becoming more represented on the platform for fight misinformation with accurate, science-based information“.
This could of course be added better regulation and monitoring of health claims, extending it to every social platform and not just TikTok which recommends drinks that don’t work, going to improve a really worrying situation.
