Misinformation issue: Report spotlights 52 US doctors who posted potentially harmful COVID misinformation online

Report spotlights 52 US doctors who posted potentially harmful COVID misinformation online Arkadiusz Warguła / iStock CIDRAP

Two new studies describe a couple sources of the COVID-19 "infodemic" on social media: US physicians and proponents and practitioners of "doing your own research."

A mixed-methods study published yesterday in JAMA Network Open finds that 52 physicians practicing in 28 different specialties across the United States propagated COVID-19 misinformation on vaccines, masks, and conspiracy theories on social media and other online platforms from January 2021 to December 2022.

...