In testimony to the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee today, American Medical Association (AMA) Immediate Past President Susan R. Bailey, M.D., will outline critical steps to bring an end to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Testifying in person, Dr. Bailey will discuss the rampant spread of medical misinformation and disinformation related to the pandemic and how it is conveyed as real news. While social media has the potential to provide accurate health information, during the pandemic, it has contributed to vaccine hesitancy by spreading “information” of dubious origin.
“The role of social media in allowing misinformation/disinformation to spread rapidly and unchecked must be acknowledged,” Dr. Bailey said in her statement for the record. “This allows medical misinformation to be conveyed as real news. While social media has the potential to help provide accurate, evidence-informed health information, during the pandemic it has contributed significantly to vaccine hesitancy with very little being done, until recently, to combat the spread of blatantly false information.
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