Health misinformation on the rise, Canadian Medical Association survey finds
New survey highlights need for greater media literacy, experts say
A new survey from the Canadian Medical Association (CMA) shows that health misinformation is on the rise, as more Canadians turn to social media for their news over traditional media organizations.
According to the CMA's annual health and media tracking survey, 62 per cent of respondents said they've encountered health information or news that later turned out to be false or misleading — an eight per cent increase compared to the previous year.
Misinformation expert Tim Caulfield says he's not surprised by the trends in the survey, but is shocked at the degree to which people seemingly believe false things.
"We can't underplay the degree to which this is a public health issue," Caulfield told Dr. Brian Goldman, host of CBC podcast The Dose.
The CMA surveyed more than 3,700 Canadians between Nov. 12 and Nov. 19, 2024, and found that 58 per cent of Gen Z respondents and 37 per cent of millennial respondents said they get their news from social media.
Millennials were the demographic most likely to encounter health misinformation, while baby boomers said they experienced health misinformation the least — 71 per cent compared to 51 per cent.
Survey respondents in all demographic groups said they've encountered more health information in 2024 that turned out to be false or misleading compared to 2023.
The CMA's survey found that 43 per cent of Canadians are highly susceptible to misinformation, and that overall trust in health news is on the decline in Canada.
What is misinformation?
Though misinformation is a general umbrella term debated by misinformation experts, science communicator Samantha Yammine says she draws a distinction between disinformation, which purposely spreads falsehood, versus misinformation, which is accidentally shared.
"Misinformation can be something we're just engaging with out of curiosity, sharing something to a friend like, 'Hey, did you see this? Is it true?'" said Yammine, a neuroscience PhD who hosts the Curiosity Weekly podcast.
"There's no mal intent there."
In contrast, Yammine says people sharing disinformation do it intentionally, "knowing that it's not right."
During the height of the pandemic, popular topics for misinformation included the efficacy of physical distancing, masks and vaccination.
Caulfield says vaccines are still an immense source of misinformation, and Yammine adds that she's seeing an increasing amount of misinformation around subjects like pasteurized milk and seed oils, as well as the "usual" subjects like climate crisis denial and anti-vaccine claims.
According to the CMA's survey, 35 per cent of respondents believe that a healthy lifestyle alone can prevent cancer — which is untrue.
Roughly 21 per cent of respondents also said they believe that 5G technology is a known cause of cancer, while 22 per cent said they were unsure if this is the case.
According to the U.S. National Cancer Institute (NCI), cellphone frequencies, including 5G, "fall in the non-ionizing range of the spectrum, which is low frequency and low energy."
In short, the NCI concludes that cellphone radiation "is too low to damage DNA."
Why does misinformation spread?
Some misinformation can seem obvious, but Caulfield says misinformation spreads in part because of the real life and online communities in which people participate.
"People are living in echo chambers," he said. "They're receiving information from communities…. Believing stuff your community believes becomes easier."
At the same time, institutional distrust is a major contributor to the spread of and belief in misinformation.
"Someone could have a really valid distrust in government institutions because they're part of a group that's faced a lot of systemic racism. It's not wrong for them to be skeptical [about] something that the government puts out about their health when the government hasn't cared about their health in the past," said Yammine.
"That's why misinformation is so challenging to deal with, because it's giving blatant answers that aren't true to things that people really, really want answers for."
Before COVID-19 vaccines were readily available, for instance, misinformation was spread about the effectiveness of potential cures like hydroxychloroquine and ivermectin.
The World Health Organization strongly advised against using hydroxychloroquine for treating COVID-19, and issued guidance recommending that ivermectin only be used to treat COVID-19 in clinical trials.
Despite a growing mistrust in health news, 73 per cent of CMA survey respondents said they believe Health Canada is most responsible for safeguarding against health misinformation.
"People still trust doctors and nurses and scientists in general, but that trust is decreasing," said Caulfield.
"I think it's important to remember that distrust is largely generated by the spread of misinformation."
A Health Canada spokesperson said the department takes misinformation and disinformation "very seriously," pointing to comments made by Chief Public Health Office Dr. Theresa Tam throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as comments made by Health Minister Mark Holland at a Jan. 30 health ministers' meeting.
In response to a reporter's question about how much he's encouraging jurisdictions to take extra measures to make sure children are properly vaccinated in lieu of measles outbreaks in Ontario and Quebec, Holland said, "[misinformation] and disinformation [are] an existential threat to public health."
"We can have the best solutions, the best guidance, the best tools, but if people aren't adhering to scientific guidance, then we're going to have extremely bad outcomes."
Spotting red flags
Despite the CMA recording an increase in health misinformation, 57 per cent of respondents said they feel they can find information that is accurate, unbiased and helpful.
Both Caulfield and Yammine say there are some clear red flags to help spot false information, cautioning against believing anecdotal claims, stories that trigger an immediate emotional response, as well as overconfident claims with little supporting evidence.
"Any credible source is frankly going to be kind of annoying to listen to, because they're going to hedge everything they say," said Yammine, adding that true experts acknowledge the limitations of what they know when discussing complex, multi-faceted issues.
The CMA's survey showed that Canadians are skeptical of scientific studies. Eleven per cent of respondents said they always trust claims based on scientific studies, while 47 per cent of respondents said they usually trust claims but still want to consider other sources. Three per cent said they don't trust scientific evidence at all.
Yammine says she's hesitant to believe the findings of individual studies, cautioning that "Nobel Prizes aren't awarded overnight."
"They're awarded for a body of work over time, so one study isn't enough," she said.
Caulfield also cautions against believing conspiratorial claims suggesting that the government or industry is hiding a miracle cure or hitherto unknown solution.
He adds that supplement sales are major red flags.
"If you have a clinically identified deficiency and your family physician talks to you about supplements, that's a different story than the massive supplement industry that's promising all these miracle cures," he said.
When in doubt, Yammine recommends a mindfulness approach, including take a simple pause to consider information before jumping to conclusions and potentially sharing with others.
"Your attention is a gift, it's a form of social currency," she said.
"Please give it where you think it's earned."
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