Summary
This document provides news about the rise of misinformation on social media and alternative news outlets.
Context
It’s human nature to be intrigued by stories or news making the claim: “They don’t want you to know about this.”
Who are the “they” always being referred to?
Usually the government, the deep state, the medical industrial complex, mainstream news media, big agriculture, big Pharma, the military industrial complex, and anyone not entirely loyal to our own insular group. Trust in scientists and government agencies has declined, and mutated into anger, as was seen with some individuals and groups not trusting Dr. Fauci. The lack of trust in science is concerning.
We like to believe we can gain access to privileged information, making us better informed than the next person and outsmarting those who are trying to keep us “in the dark” on various issues.
Social media and alternative news sources are potentially a breeding ground for conspiracies and misinformation.
A lack of trust in vaccines and other preventative measures has resulted in the return of diseases that we believed had been conquered: Chlamydia, Gout, Legionnaires’ Disease, Leprosy, Measles, Mumps, Polio, Rickets, Scarlet Fever, Scurvy, Syphilis, Tuberculosis, Whooping Cough, and others. [Source]
As of July 2024, there is a growing misinformation movement that creates fear of sunscreen products. Examples of this and other misinformation trends are below.
News
CBS (6 Jul 2024)
“Dermatologists battle online ‘anti-sunscreen movement’ spreading misinformation, health risks” — An anti-sunscreen movement is heating up online this summer, spreading misinformation that could lead to potentially dangerous behavior. Dermatologists are taking to social media to stop the misinformation. [Source]
BBC (17 Jun 2024)
“Covid vaccine disinformation war – Whose Truth? The vaccine” — How Nobel Prize laureate Katalin Karikó got caught up in the Covid vaccine disinformation wars. [Source]
PBS (25 Feb 2024)
“How vaccine hesitancy is contributing to rising rates of measles and COVID” — Vaccines have been proven to be an effective weapon against many diseases. Measles, for instance, was declared eliminated from the U.S. in 2000, and more recently, vaccines helped curb the spread of COVID. But both of those diseases are on the rise in 2024. PBS NewsHour digital health reporter Laura Santhanam joins John Yang to discuss why cases are climbing. [Source]
PBS (22 Aug 2022)
“Public health experts sound the alarm as new polio cases emerge” — Polio had been considered eliminated from the U.S. since 1979, when the last known case of the original strain of the polio virus was detected, while the global vaccination campaign has decreased cases by 99.9 percent. But the virus now seems to be gaining a foothold again in some countries. Dr. Yvonne Maldonado of the Stanford School of Medicine joins William Brangham to discuss. [Source]
Reuters (16 Aug 2022)
“Why has polio returned to the United States?” — The discovery of a vaccine in the 1950s eradicated the deadly disease almost entirely. But now it’s back, spreading in London, Jerusalem and New York for the first time in decades. Here is why polio returned. [Source]