With Social Media Influence Comes Social Responsibility

2020 has brought about an unprecedented and perhaps one of the most tumultuous times the world has faced. Although COVID-19 first appeared in Wuhan, China around October of 2019, it was officially declared a global pandemic by the WHO on March 11, 2020. Following this declaration, the red dots on the interactive world map depicted by the Johns Hopkins Coronavirus resource center seemed to proliferate with each passing day, tipping the grey to the red ratio. Throughout this global crisis, social media has emerged as both a harbinger of vital information and a playground for the rapid spread of dangerous misinformation. 

The Role of Social Responsibility 

Social media has been a powerhouse of disseminating snippets of timely and digestible information. Official social media accounts for WHO, CDC, and several academic institutions including Columbia Public Health have strived to keep the public informed. Globally, celebrities have reached out to their followers and raised funds for front line warriors such as doctors, nurses, and healthcare workers caring for COVID-19 patients. Even students at Mailman have leveraged social media's reach to set up CovidWears, an e-commerce fundraising platform selling loungewear with 100% of the profits donated to Mount Sinai COVID-19 relief.

When real-life started to resemble "Contagion,” a 2011 Steven Soderberg film depicting the rapid spread of a contagious virus and the disruption of the global economic, social and public health systems, Dr. W. Ian Lipkin, an advisor on the film and the Director of the Center for Infection and Immunity (CII), reunited with the cast and launched "Control the Contagion", a social media campaign designed to spread facts about COVID-19. Additionally, with the cancellation of live musical performances and Broadway shows, social media emerged as music's best concert hall. In mid- April, artists performed on Instagram and YouTube and used #TogetherAtHome to gather support for stay-at-home measures. Such virtual experiences provided people with positive distractions and a sense of unity.  

Combatting Social Stretch 

On the flip side, the sheer ease of sharing information online has been divisive in propagating misinformation. On March 17th, a peer-review journal published a preliminary study (or an exploratory study), on the anti-malaria drug Chloroquine as a potential treatment for COVID-19. Statements from President Trump and a tweet from SpaceX CEO Elon Musk touted the drug as the definitive cure. (Inverse, 2020). This exaggerated hype of Chloroquine spread with lightning speed despite the lack of concrete scientific data supporting it. Seven days after the spread of partial information on the drug, an elderly couple from Arizona, both in their 60s, self-medicated themselves with chloroquine phosphate. They were "afraid of getting sick," and the man ended up losing his life, demonstrating the poignant and devastating outcomes misinformation can have.

Another unsettling instance happened in Belgium when a general physician stated that 5G networks helped to spread and worsen the virus. It gained traction when a local newspaper reported it and while the paper quickly issued a correction, the misinformation had spiraled out of control, with numerous anti-5G groups mushrooming and garnering thousands of followers on social media. In response, dozens of arsonists set fire to cellular towers across Europe. Similar anti-mask groups have also taken shape on Facebook. 

These occurrences confirm that, akin to the virus, misinformation does not observe national boundaries.

What is being done?

Dr. Tedros Adhanom, the director-general of the World Health Organization, has called the massive amount of data concerning the virus as the "coronavirus infodemic" and the WHO "MythBusters" page has been actively debunking the myriad false information.

Tech companies such as Facebook and Twitter are also taking steps to prevent the spread of misinformation by partnering with government agencies like WHO and CDC, creating dedicated task forces, and tweaking their algorithm to promote credible information. (LiveMint, n.d.)

In India, the government has teamed up with WhatsApp to spread only factual information through its WhatsApp Bot software program called MyGov Corona. And the United Nations initiative "Pause" encourages people to stop and think before sharing COVID-19 related information using the hashtag #takecarebeforeyoushare. However, all these efforts are barely sufficient if we as a community don't actively push the good science.   

A recent study published in the American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene states that at least 800 people may have died due to misinformation, clearly making it a public health crisis. We must obtain credible data from reliable sources, engage in active fact-checking and rational debates before broadcasting our voices. With social media influence comes a social response and a responsibility to our fellow citizens' wellbeing. In our Public Health Concepts class, one of my classmates asked our professor, Dr. David Rosenthal, how we could positively contribute to the situation as future public health leaders. He suggested we keep ourselves informed enough to educate others with facts. Being armed with facts and educating those around us will have ripple effects that can squash lies and prevent them from spreading and harming the public.

As public health professionals, we must not only present facts to our peers but also call out the lies and untruths we see on social media. In a time that has everything to do with fear and insecurity, it is pertinent that we dig deeper and investigate the truth while also supporting each other and exhibiting the goodness of human nature. Times like these demand a shared understanding and purpose.  Together, we can put social media to good use by spreading credible, reliable, fact-based information about the public health issues that impact us all.

Richa Rai is a 2021 MHA candidate in the Department of Health Policy and Management. She received her Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery from DY Patil University in India.