Social media is the new public health frontline. Let’s treat it that way.
Vulnerable populations, including youth, people of color, and low-income communities, often rely on social media for health information, making them particularly susceptible to misinformation by unqualified influencers.
Harvard Public Health
The results of the 2024 presidential election have ushered in a new era of uncertainty for public health. With Donald Trump back in the White House and his choice of Robert F. Kennedy Jr.—notorious for backing some public health conspiracy theories—as a key figure in the health sector, the stakes are immense.
Kennedy’s history of spreading disinformation about vaccines threatens to undermine decades of scientific progress and public trust. As the nation starts to grapple with the implications of this seismic shift, the role of accurate, evidence-based communication that actually reaches people has become more urgent than ever.
In this new landscape, social media creators have emerged as the frontline of public health communication. Often trusted more than traditional institutions, these creators wield significant influence over how health information is disseminated and understood by not only the masses but also the hardest-to-reach populations. Yet many creators have told me they lack the tools and training to verify and translate health information and instead rely on quick internet searches, which can inadvertently spread inaccurate content. This lack of accessible science creates a void that both unintentional misinformation and deliberate disinformation readily fill. Equipping creators to combat mis- and disinformation is no longer optional. It’s essential.
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