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.
