In January 2020, when it became clear that coronavirus cases were being reported in countries other than China, the taxpayer-funded World Health Organization instead spent its time A series of 14 tweets about the dangers of e-cigarettes.These include claims that e-cigarette liquid is “highly flammable,” that second-hand vapor is deadly to bystanders, and that there is no evidence that e-cigarettes help people quit smoking. All completely false.
It was a disingenuous thread intentionally designed to mislead the public, despite all the disingenuous claims. comprehensively debunked, not yet deleted. In the meantime, thousands of people will read the lies promoted by the WHO and believe they must be true because of the organization’s perceived credibility.
The WHO’s social media interactions are now virtually on a par with those of “anti-vaxxers” and 9/11 truthers.
Scroll back a few years and this deliberate tactic by the WHO to deceive the public is brutally exposed by governments. community notes An initiative introduced by Elon Musk when he acquired X (formerly Twitter). The WHO, which originally aimed to combat conspiracy theorists, propaganda and online fraud, has deliberately used social media to spread information it knows to be false, but it has also affected the internet.
post March 17th This article by WHO’s Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean falsely claims that it is a myth that “e-cigarettes and heated tobacco products are safer alternatives to cigarettes” and is the subject of a brutal response from a community note. It quickly spread due to its deletion. The memo vigorously refuted the WHO’s misinformation with more than 100 links from health authorities around the world, including the Centers for Disease Control, the Food and Drug Administration, the European Union, and even the WHO’s own European branch.
Unlike fixing malicious 2020 threads with replies, community notes are attached to the tweet itself for everyone to see.
To date, the tweet has generated more than 100 quote tweets from social media users, with reactions ranging from disgust to hilarity. This is not the first time the WHO has received attention in the community. In January, the Western Pacific region received similar community note treatment. Tweet They are spreading the exact same lies.
This should be a source of great embarrassment for the WHO. Its social media interactions are now virtually on par with “anti-vaxxers” and 9/11 truthers. Ideological and irresponsible opposition to risk-reducing nicotine products based on misinformation and lies, whose reputation plummeted over the company’s incompetence in responding to the pandemic, but which could now save millions of lives appears to be further reinforcing that lack of trust. World wide.
There are serious implications here. The WHO should be a respected global authority on public health issues. However, promoting inaccurate information undermines an organization’s credibility. Questions have been raised about the rigor of the study and the reliability of the statements. People will begin to doubt the WHO’s integrity and be less likely to trust its recommendations on other health-related issues, including future pandemics.
Continuing attempts to mislead the public (for whatever reason) are unethical and counterproductive for an organization like the WHO, whose mission is to promote global public health based on evidence and scientific consensus. is.
WHO has a responsibility to uphold the highest standards of message transparency, accountability and scientific integrity to protect public health and build trust with the communities it serves. We are clearly failing to do so when it comes to reducing the harm of e-cigarettes and tobacco.
Clearly, WHO’s current policy prevents policy makers from implementing evidence-based harm reduction strategies and limits access to life-saving risk reduction products for smokers seeking to quit. The techniques the company uses to accomplish this include selective messaging, misleading language, denigrating those with opposing views, cynical exploitation of information gaps, and ideologically prohibitionist This includes the use of proxy sites such as so-called news sites funded by allies.
Now that social media users can call out misinformation from the WHO through initiatives like Elon Musk’s Community Note, the organization may need to reevaluate its communications strategy. This should mean telling the truth to avoid further embarrassment and damage to your reputation.
Alternatively, the WHO should step back from social media until its spokespeople are trained to stop spreading suspicion and confusion that only harms global public health.
