Mesa do debate do Conselho Nacional de Saúde (CNS)
The 352nd Ordinary Meeting of the National Health Council (CNS), held on Wednesday (13/03) in Brasília, brought together experts to discuss the current scenario of disinformation in the area of national public health.
Marie Rose Santini, director of the Internet and Social Network Studies Laboratory at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (NetLab UFRJ), was one of the guests and raised issues studied by the group, such as the need for regulation of digital platforms and the effects of the spread of online fake news about public health, especially during the Covid-19 pandemic.
“Vaccines and vaccination are the favorite target of fake news on the subject of health because they strongly symbolize public collective health action, and the two are therefore associated in the minds of most people.”, says Rose Marie.
“In Brazil, the production of misinformation on health is greater than in any other sector”, says the professor, citing the daily monitoring of social networks that NetLab carries out. “Health is the most difficult area to attack, because it is evidence-based, but it is the area that suffers the most. They want to put an end to the idea of collective health”, she affirms.