Concrete Recommendations for Cutting Through Misinformation During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Unlike political disinformation, or fake news, health misinformation can quickly lead to changes in behaviors, which is why health communicators can't wait for tech companies to solve the problem 2 For example, research on antivaccination movements shows how celebrities, activists, and discredited physicians gain influence over vaccination policies, while also promoting quackery, misinformation, and conspiracies on social media 3 Although it is difficult to know who has been affected by health misinformation, best strategies to counter it focus on addressing "silent audiences" with direct, careful, and succinct messaging 4 Search engines and social media platforms are struggling to control the groundswell of new attention to COVID-19 and are having difficulty matching the right information to the right person at the right time Public health and health care organizations with already established and functioning Web sites should not register new domains because it is difficult to gain traction within search engines and social media Local television news remains a reliable way to inform many people quickly and locally 5 Local governments and health agencies should set up text messaging systems and SMS (short message service) push notifications, where possible, to reach people outside social media