While fake news threatens our democracy, fake health news threatens our lives. From vaccines and infectious viruses to cancer drugs and diets, there are thousands of pieces of health misinformation on the internet. While some may only result in a little confusion, others have serious and troubling effects. Increasingly, medical misinformation is seen as a human rights issue because the spread of misinformation about health and disease prevention, such as false information on risks associated with vaccines, or cancer cure, may deter people from taking timely healthcare decisions that protect their health, putting them at great risk.
Today, medical misinformation aided and abetted by social media is a growing problem that is harming public health and putting millions of people at risk of having their basic rights to health violated and limited. Misinformation misleads, reinforces discrimination, facilitates stigma associated with mental health and undermines human dignity. Join us for a masterclass workshop on how to identify and debunk medical misinformation, false claims, hoaxes and outright lies. The session will share experience from fact-checking initiatives and global health misinformation researchers from Full Fact, DataLEADS, the University of Lagos, and PesaCheck.
We’ll integrate insights from health fact-checking research conducted by Meedan’s Digital Health Lab, a public health research unit working at the intersection of access to health and access to information. We’ll review findings that prioritize audience safety and privacy and the importance of applying public health standards of care to health communications. The masterclass will also share examples of how freedom of information laws can enhance evidence-based health reporting and fact-checking.
Nat GyenesDirector, Digital Health Lab, Meedan
Syed NazakatFounder & CEO, DataLEADS
Dr. Ifeoma AmobiLecturer, University of Lagos
Eric MugendiManaging Editor, PesaCheck
Nour ShararaGlobal Health Researcher, Digital Health Lab, Meedan
