| Keywords [eng] |
medical misinformation, health disinformation, fake health news, social media algorithm, echo chambers, infodemic, COVID-19 misinformation, government responsibility misinformation, medical ethics, beneficence and misinformation, social media misinformation. |
| Abstract [eng] |
This thesis deals with the role, spreading mechanisms and consequences of medical misinformation in social media. Special attention is paid to the different stakeholders involved in this type of communication and the ethical responsibilities that arise from it. It is a narrative (non-systematic) literature review, whereby the sources were filtered out from databases such as PubMed and Google Scholar as well as from the grey literature and official public health websites. Further relevant literature was identified using a snowball method. For a better understanding, key terms such as misinformation, disinformation and the term ‘infodemic’ are described on the first few pages. This is followed by a detailed discussion of the channels through which social media influence health communication and thus the health behaviour of the population, both in a positive sense, for example through improved access to information and effective crisis communication, and in a negative sense, by the rapid spread of false content and its algorithmic amplification through echo chambers. In the worst-case scenario, this can result in serious negative effects such as damage to health and decreasing trust in healthcare facilities. These effects are illustrated using historical and current examples. The work also goes into detail on the controversy surrounding the smallpox vaccine, the Spanish flu, the HIV/AIDS epidemic, the debate surrounding the MMR vaccine and, as the most recent example, the COVID-19 pandemic. All of these health crises, which quickly became international crises, illustrate how uncertainty, fear and a lack of reliable information can lead to serious health consequences. And that the problem does not end at national borders, but spreads worldwide in a matter of seconds. Ethical aspects of this interaction form the core topic of the work. Basic principles such as accuracy, transparency and proportionality are used to analyse and evaluate the communication responsibilities of the various actors. Ethical theories such as deontology, utilitarianism (consequentialism) and virtue ethics help to subject actions and strategies to critical scrutiny. The results show that ethical responsibility cannot lie solely with a single group. Education and efforts are needed at all levels to counteract the possible negative effects, to put them in relation to the facts and thus contain them. Governments should improve their communication strategies and health education. Platform operators must not only focus on the number of likes and maximising profits, but must also ensure transparent moderation processes, even if this is inconvenient, labour-intensive and therefore costly. Doctors, on the other hand, should become more actively involved in public debates, familiarise themselves with the content disseminated online and thus be able to provide patients with better and more comprehensive advice on their concerns. And users need to be more aware of the content they disseminate and also consider possible unintended consequences. A co-operative approach is needed at all levels to ensure the responsible health information that the public expects and should be provided and to curb the spread of medical misinformation. |
