US Surgeon General Wants Tech Companies to Reveal Sources of COVID Misinformation for Public Safety

Sophie Webster, Tech Times 04 March 2022, 11:03 pm

The Surgeon General of the United States, Dr. Vivek Murthy, has launched an investigation into the spreading of misinformation on COVID-19.

US Surgeon General Wants to Combat COVID Misinformation

Dr. Murthy told CNN that misinformation has had a profound impact on COVID-19 and the response of health workers.

Studies have shown that majority of the American public either believes common myths about COVID-19 or thinks the myths might be true. Many of those include myths around the COVID-19 vaccines.

Also Read: COVID-19 Misinformation Also Lurks in Doximity: Doctors Claim Even Fellow Physicians Spread Fake News

Dr. Murthy has requested input and data from several tech companies, health care providers, and community organizations to know more about the impact of misinformation on COVID-19 on their respective platforms.

CNN reported that this is the first time that the Biden administration has asked tech companies to divulge certain data, including major sources of misinformation, its extent, and who may have been more targeted. Dr. Murthy said that they will be looking forward to whatever information tech companies have to share.

Several tech giants like Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter have released features to combat misinformation on their respective platforms. However, Dr. Murthy still wants to get their data to know whether the solutions released by the companies are actually working or not.

Strain on Health Care Workers

Another important is input from health care workers, teachers, and families on coping with misinformation. Dr. Murthy said that health misinformation is making the jobs of health care workers much harder at a time where their health care work force is strained, according to a report by The New York Times.

Dr. Murthy added that he's heard health care workers say that they are battling COVID in the hospitals during the day, and they are battling health misinformation at night.

Dr. Gerald Harmon, the president of the American Medical Association or AMA, released a statement applauding the Surgeon General's effort to root out COVID-19 misinformation online.

Dr. Harmon added that AMA has called out the junk science and misinformation about COVID-19 and the vaccine that have spread on social media.

Dr. Harmon said that these have sewn distrust in medicine, cost lives, and drove families apart. This echoes the statement made by Pfizer's CEO last year, calling those who spread misinformation about COVID-19 the vaccine "criminials."

He added that collecting and understanding the data is critical to reversing its deadly impact and future spread.

Doctors Release COVID Toolkit

According to a report by ABC, the Surgeon General in the country released a step-by-step toolkit to help people combat misinformation about the COVID-19 vaccines in their close circles.

Dr. Murthy said in an interview that they need people in communities all across the United States to have these conversations. Dr. Murthy added that it is not just the government that needs to be engaged in these conversations about COVID-19.

The step-by-step guide gives a complete road map on how to talk to unvaccinated people who have bought into the conspiracy theories or lies that have constantly spread on the internet about the COVID-19 vaccines and its effects.

Last year, the US government has called out Facebook and the COVID-19 misinformation on the platform and said that it has caused lives.