Mar
09
Posted by ssawyer on March 9th, 2021
Posted in: #CC/Academic List, #Health Interest List, #Health Sciences List, #Public/K-12 List, All Members
Addressing Health Misinformation at the Scale of the Internet
The world now has more internet users than people with access to essential health services such as primary care, dental care, or surgery. Exacerbated through the COVID-19 pandemic, populations around the world experience limited availability of in-person health providers or services for certain health conditions, and as a result, the internet plays a crucial role in mediating access to health through access to information. However, the consequences of online health information have never been more pertinent.
In this session, we will focus on the unique role that health practitioners, experts and library systems can play in responding to related challenges. We will review existing interventions that social media platforms are deploying to try to address health misinformation at global, internet scales, the strengths and limitations of these approaches, and how physicians of the future can contribute to a healthier online information ecosystem. Further, as the shape of health misinformation on social media platforms evolves situationally across geography, demographics, and subject matter, public health expertise must be better integrated into the design of content moderation interventions on these platforms. For public health experts to make informed and achievable recommendations, however, they must be familiar with the affordances of social media platforms that enable or limit interventions to mitigate the spread and impact of health misinformation.
Class Date and Time
Monday, March 22, 2021
10 AM PT/ 11 AM MT/ 12 PM CT/ 1 PM ET
Registration