As health misinformation continues to pose a significant challenge across Africa, experts and digital platforms are developing innovative strategies to stem the spread of false information, particularly concerning vaccines and COVID-19.
The experts made this known during a webinar on tackling health misinformation held on Thursday.
A leading expert from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, Prof. Adam Kucharski shared insights into how health misinformation spreads online and the measures that can be taken to address it.
Kucharski said that trustworthy health websites received around eight billion visits during the pandemic, a figure that has remained relatively high.
“In contrast, websites generally regarded as untrustworthy, including fringe or conspiracy-based sites, recorded between 160 million and 200 million visits.
“This is a tiny fraction by comparison, equating to about 40 times more consumption of trustworthy content,” he said.
According to him, while headlines may suggest visits to untrustworthy websites surged from 160 to 200 million, these numbers, although large, represent only a small portion of the overall content consumed.
He referenced a useful study from early 2021 that analysed vaccine-related Facebook posts shared more than 100 times, finding that only about 0.3 to 0.4 per cent of all content was flagged as misinformation.
“The vast majority of posts were factually accurate or not flagged at all.
“However, even factually accurate posts can be misleading, depending on how they are shared and interpreted.
“For instance, a headline from the Chicago Tribune reporting on the death of a healthy doctor two weeks after receiving a COVID vaccine was shared over 65 million times on Facebook.
“That is more than seven times the combined total of all flagged misinformation. Although factually correct, the post implied vaccine risks without providing sufficient context to assess cause and effect,” he said.
He said that the situation presented an ongoing challenge.
“While outright falsehoods constitute a small proportion of misinformation, technically accurate information can be disseminated in ways that foster misconceptions,”Kucharski said.
He also sais that online misinformation evolved rapidly, adding that much like a virus mutates posts can change wording and tone, incorporating new emotional appeals or urgency that increase their spread.
“One striking example occurred in 2020, involving a data error in an election map originally posted on a fringe message board.
“This post was subsequently shared on Twitter with suggestive commentary and was eventually reshared by prominent figures, including former President Donald Trump, demonstrating how misinformation can quickly gain significant traction,” he said.
On strategies to combat misinformation, Kucharski referred to a systematic review of misinformation responses, which found that scare tactics and overconfident debunking can be counterproductive.
“More effective approaches include communicating the weight of scientific evidence, emphasising vaccine safety, employing humour, and providing advance warnings about potential misinformation.
“One innovative tool is Twitter’s ‘community notes’ system, now part of X which enables users with diverse viewpoints to add context to posts flagged as misleading.
“When a note receives sufficient votes, it appears alongside the post, offering balanced, evidence-based information. Studies of these notes, particularly around vaccines, indicate most are accurate and cite reputable sources,” he said.
He however, cautioned that not all misleading posts receive timely community notes.
According to him, delay in voting can allow misinformation to spread unchecked, as revealed by several Bloomberg analyses on note lag times.
He said that combating misinformation required a multifaceted approach, combining digital tools, effective public communication, and community engagement.
“Clear, honest messaging that avoids scare tactics and builds trust is essential to fostering resilience against misinformation in Africa’s diverse information landscape,” he said.
Misinformation is evolving at an unprecedented pace
Platforms and health authorities are, thus, advised to continue to collaborate in innovating, educating, and safeguarding public health.
NAN
