Health misinformation

Health misinformation is false or misleading health information — about vaccines, treatments, diets, diagnoses or causes of illness — that spreads regardless of intent to deceive. It ranges from honest mistakes and out-of-date advice to coordinated disinformation, and it shapes real decisions: whether someone vaccinates a child, starts a proven treatment, or wastes money on a cure that does not work.

Research distinguishes two broad ways false health claims spread. Some misinformation is accuracy-responsive: people share it because they believe it, and corrections can change their minds. Other misinformation is outrage-driven: it spreads because it is emotionally charged, and fact-checks barely slow it down. That difference matters, because the right response to each is different — better information for the first, and changes to what platforms amplify for the second. [1]

UTA Intelligence tracks health misinformation across platforms and topics: which categories carry the greatest risk of public-health harm, which channels carry them, and how current headlines score for outrage load and likely spread. The briefings below are our original analysis on this topic, and every figure we publish links to a named, checkable source.