ArticleJournal of medical Internet research2020
Public Health in the Information Age: Recognizing the Infosphere as a Social Determinant of Health.
Article in Journal of medical Internet research, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 29 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
29 citing papers in PubMed, 60 citations in OpenAlex.
- Use of the Online Portal "Embryotox" in Routine Health Care: Mixed Methods Study.Journal of medical Internet research · 2026Article
- Sunscreen is overwhelmingly promoted on TikTok, but content with misinformation exhibits proportionally high levels of audience interaction.PLOS digital health · 2026Article
- Contraception-Related Posts from Adolescents, Young Adults, and Caregivers on Reddit: A Qualitative Content Analysis.Journal of pediatric and adolescent gynecology · 2026Article
- Article
- Digital nursing: from misinformation to protagonism in public health.Investigacion y educacion en enfermeria · 2026Article
- Problematic mental health-related advice: exploring the role and limitations of EU's digital toolbox on the case of #TherapyTok.Frontiers in public health · 2026Article
- Framing reproductive narratives: A thematic discourse analysis of news representations of childlessness in 86 countries (2015-2025).PLOS global public health · 2026Article
- The Contents and Influence of the Perinatal Contraceptive Infosphere: A Narrative Review.O&G open · 2025Review
- Health information quality of online newspaper articles in Korea.Korean journal of family medicine · 2025Article
- Association Between the Information Environment, Knowledge, Perceived Lack of Information, and Uptake of the HPV Vaccine in Female and Male Undergraduate Students in Belgrade, Serbia.European journal of investigation in health, psychology and education · 2025Article
- Preparing for future pandemics: A qualitative exploration of social media in light of the COVID-19 pandemic and vaccine hesitancy.PLOS global public health · 2025Article
- The effect of internet use on the health of middle-aged and older adults: evidences from China general social survey.BMC public health · 2024Article
- An integrative systematic review on interventions to improve layperson's ability to identify trustworthy digital health information.PLOS digital health · 2024Article
- Ethical Considerations in Infodemic Management: Systematic Scoping Review.JMIR infodemiology · 2024Article
- COVID-19 vaccine literacy: A scoping review.Human vaccines & immunotherapeutics · 2023Article
- Understanding Trust Determinants in a Live Chat Service on Familial Cancer: Qualitative Triangulation Study With Focus Groups and Interviews in Germany.Journal of medical Internet research · 2023Article
- AI chatbots and (mis)information in public health: impact on vulnerable communities.Frontiers in public health · 2023Article
- Rainbows over the world's public health: determinants of health models in the past, present, and future.Scandinavian journal of public health · 2022Article
- Health-Related Rumor Control through Social Collaboration Models: Lessons from Cases in China during the COVID-19 Pandemic.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2022Article
- Views of healthcare consumer representatives on defensive practice: 'We are your biggest advocate and supporter… not the enemy'.Health expectations : an international journal of public participation in health care and health policy · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Since 2016, social media companies and news providers have come under pressure to tackle the spread of political mis- and disinformation (MDI) online. However, despite evidence that online health MDI (on the web, on social media, and within mobile apps) also has negative real-world effects, there has been a lack of comparable action by either online service providers or state-sponsored public health bodies. We argue that this is problematic and seek to answer three questions: why has so little been done to control the flow of, and exposure to, health MDI online; how might more robust action be justified; and what specific, newly justified actions are needed to curb the flow of, and exposure to, online health MDI? In answering these questions, we show that four ethical concerns-related to paternalism, autonomy, freedom of speech, and pluralism-are partly responsible for the lack of intervention. We then suggest that these concerns can be overcome by relying on four arguments: (1) education is necessary but insufficient to curb the circulation of health MDI, (2) there is precedent for state control of internet content in other domains, (3) network dynamics adversely affect the spread of accurate health information, and (4) justice is best served by protecting those susceptible to inaccurate health information. These arguments provide a strong case for classifying the quality of the infosphere as a social determinant of health, thus making its protection a public health responsibility. In addition, they offer a strong justification for working to overcome the ethical concerns associated with state-led intervention in the infosphere to protect public health.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.