Gendered Health Misinformation

This is an applied resource examining the concept of gendered health misinformation and how it may present to online users. We reviewed claims on social media, interviewed health experts, and consulted existing literature in order to put together a set of prioritized gendered health misinformation topics.

Gendered misinformation here is defined as the unintentional spread of false or substandard information about women, trans people, and nonbinary people. This is different from gendered disinformation, which is the intentional and coordinated spread of sexist information, primarily focused on women. The concept has yet to be formally conceptualized and is not widely researched, understood, or prioritized. In this report we focus on three nonexhaustive topics that capture a range of gendered health misinformation claims.

This resource captures examples of gendered health misinformation online. More research needs to be done to understand relative risks of gendered health misinformation narratives, as well as effective content moderation approaches to mitigating the harm of gendered health misinformation in online ecosystems.

The claims presented in this resource are examples of misinformation that are misleading, missing context, or outright false. Names and identifying characteristics of the users posting the misinformation have been blurred to protect their identities and reduce risks of harm and harassment to those accounts.

Acknowledgements

This primer was developed with contributions from topic area and field experts including Lauren Graybill, Elizabeth Pleasants, Anna Wexler, Laura Dodge, and with input from Meedan team members.

Meedan partners with media organizations, NGOs, and technology platforms— including some mentioned in this report—to support global journalism. Details about Meedan’s funding and collaborations are available in its annual reports. Meedan’s research is conducted independently of our funders.