Social Media and Public Health

Out of the 7.91 billion people in the world population, there are 4.95 billion internet users, and 4.62 billion active social media users. This means approximately 62% of the world population uses the internet, and 58% of the world population are Social media users. However, the number of social media users accounts for the total population varies in regions. It ranges from 8% in Middle Africa to 82% in North America.

What Is Happening Now?

In today’s era of public health, the flow of information is no longer unidirectional and that audience-social media users play a key role in the spread of public health messages across various platforms. As a result of social media, people are now able to learn more about health issues, receive and send communications more quickly during public health emergencies, mobilize community action, facilitate behaviour change, and collect surveillance data about health issues.

Learn more information about the impact of social media on public health by participating in the Paris WHO event!

Misinformation, Infordemic in Social Media and Public Health!

Health misinformation is not a recent phenomenon. In the late 1990s, a poorly designed study, later retracted, falsely claimed that the measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine caused autism. Even after the correct message was distributed to the people, the information contributed to lower immunization rates over the next twenty years. Starting from 2017, there have been new measles outbreaks in the United States. Health misinformation is also a global problem. In South Africa, for example, “AIDS denialism” —a false belief denying that HIV causes AIDS— was adopted at the highest levels of the national government. It reduced access to effective treatment and contributed to more than 330,000 deaths between 2000 and 2005. Health misinformation has also reduced the willingness of people to seek effective treatment for cancer, heart disease, and other conditions. The prevalence of fake news (false or misleading information) has been increasing in recent years with the rise of social media, especially in the Facebook News feed. During the COVID-19 pandemic, people with uncertainties demanded trusted information. Misinformation resulted in an “Infodemic” which was harder to tackle than the actual pandemic.

Learn more information on how people from the field tackle the misinformation of social media on public health by participating in the Paris WHO event!

Are we regulating Social Media for Public Health?

As social media emerged over the last twenty years, the need to regulate its use and functioning also became apparent. Today, this topic has become a societal issue, questioning our relationship to free speech. Typically, the debate fostered around Elon Musk’s claim to de-suspend Donald Trump’s ban from Twitter (if bought) exemplifies some of the issues social media regulation triggers. There are however more subtle nuances to social media regulation than banning single accounts, and must agree to do so does not tackle the root issues at play. Social media is fundamentally different from traditional media for a different number of reasons: infinite bandwidth, with millions of accounts that can each target a much narrower audience, absence of editorial oversight… but also the fact that social media users have almost no control over the content they see: indeed, platforms use complex algorithms to serve content they think will keep users scrolling, often exposing them to more radical posts that they may never have sought out on their own. This mechanism feeds the profitable economical model within which social media functions.

Learn more information on who and how regulations are placed on social media for public health by participating in the Paris WHO event!