National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine 2023 Navigating infodemics

National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (2023) Navigating infodemics and building trust during public health emergencies: proceedings of a workshop in brief. National Academies Press, Washington, DC. https://doi.org/10.17226/27188

» National Academies Press, Open Access

National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (2023) National Academies Press

Abstract: At the request of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine hosted a two-day public workshop on April 10-11, 2023 to examine the history of public health infodemics, the impact of infodemics on trust in the public health enterprise, and tools and practices used to address infodemics.

At the outset of the workshop, Howard Koh, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, described the term “infodemic” as the rapid spread of large amounts of sometimes conflicting or inaccurate information that can impede the ability of individuals, communities, and authorities to protect health and effectively respond in a crisis. Even a deluge of accurate information can overwhelm the public. In times of emergency, there may also be situations in which people do not have access to the information they need.

In his closing remarks, Griffis called for increased understanding of how to resource institutions at all levels to reduce the harmful effects of mis- and disinformation. To this end, CDC conducts regular meetings with other federal agencies to coordinate responses to emerging misinformation. Furthermore, CDC is working to: (1) build improved misinformation monitoring and alert systems; (2) develop a more systematic approach to misinformation through the agency; (3) create, in collaboration with academic institutions, a system to increase sentinel data collection and social listening; (4) establish rapid response infrastructure to provide the public with accurate information from trusted community sources; and (5) develop tools for public health to predict the virality of vaccine misinformation. CDC continually strives to disseminate accurate information as it is needed through appropriate channels in order to empower the public to make decisions that support their health and wellbeing.

• Bioblast editor: Gnaiger E

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Gentle Science, Ambiguity crisis