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home / 世界杯决赛2022

in the battle to debunk covid-19 misinformation, ottawa public health officials lead the way

'debunking really does work, especially if it is done by experts. your voice really can make a difference.'

by elizabeth payne

dec 9 2021
read time 4 minute read
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ottawa public health has been praised during the pandemic for its smart, often funny, use of social media to get information to the public.
now a series of tweets ottawa’s health unit posted earlier this week is being held up as a model for how to counter the growing threat from covid-19 misinformation.
in three tweets on monday, oph directly addressed false rumours that a child in ottawa had died after receiving a covid-19 vaccine.
“we have reviewed our records of adverse events following immunizations and connected with partners at cheo and the coroner’s (office) to confirm this information is false. all sources report that no child in ottawa has died from a covid-19 vaccine,” oph tweeted.
“misinformation has direct, harmful impacts on the health of our community and we take these matters very seriously.”’
on wednesday, the keynote speaker at the annual canadian public health association canadian immunization conference echoed those concerns about the dangers of health misinformation. timothy caulfield, who studies the subject, said misinformation had become a growing threat during the pandemic.
the research chair in health law and policy at the university of alberta pointed to ottawa public health’s tweets earlier this week as examples of how misinformation should be addressed directly and debunked.
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“misinformation is one of the great challenges of our time,” caulfield said. “not only does misinformation create physical harm, it erodes trust in our institutions, it erodes trust in the community, and that is a significant issue.”
caulfield said it misinformation now so widely disseminated through social media and elsewhere that it has been normalized.
“the latest bunk is the idea that, if you are forced to get a vaccine through a mandate, you can detox through a borax bath. it is just absolutely incredible, but this is where we are.”
one survey found 28 per cent of americans believe bill gates intends to microchip people using covid-19 vaccines, caulfield said. other research found that eight out of 10 americans are somewhat open to “big covid conspiracy theories,” he said. and canadians are not far behind. more than half of canadians, according to some surveys, are open “to the same kind of noise.”
misinformation spreads quickly on social media and, increasingly, there has been a merger of ideology and pandemic misinformation, with people talking about their rights and freedom, instead of concerns about vaccines, as reasons they are not getting vaccinated. that is a new challenge, he said.
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caulfield said a surge of misinformation around the vaccination of children between five and 11 was anticipated. there has also been an increase in covid-19 misinformation with the identification of the new omicron variant.
those are among reasons, he said, that it is important to debunk misinformation when it comes up and not fear amplifying the false information.
caulfield is part of an initiative called science up first that works with independent scientists, researchers, health care experts and science communicators to debunk and correct misinformation on social media (scienceupfirst.com).
“debunking really does work, especially if it is done by experts. your voice really can make a difference.”
that is also what ottawa public health did when it, in plain language, countered the false information about a child dying after being vaccinated.
although health-related myths and misinformation are not new, they can have negative repercussions on public health — by lowering vaccination rates or reducing trust in the health system, ottawa public health said in a statement. that is particularly dangerous during a pandemic.
“to combat this type of misinformation, ottawa public health actively seeks to dispel misinformation in the medium in which it manifests. if we notice myths or misinformation that have gain traction online, for example, we aim to respond through the same medium by offering accurate and factual information in a timely manner.”

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this is not the first time ottawa public health has attracted attention for shining a light on misinformation.
earlier this year, oph tweeted out congratulations to the winner of the super bowl in what appeared to be a gaffe. the congratulations tweet said, “bruce, be sure to put the winning team’s name here,” in parenthesis. it went viral.
it turned out to be a lesson in pandemic misinformation. in a subsequent tweet, oph wrote, “well, this seems to be a great opportunity to chat about misinformation.” it then analyzed its own tweet to show people how to spot signs of misinformation. oph also directed people to science up first, saying it is important to question things you see online.
its social media team also noted the outpouring of kindness for bruce, “who doesn’t exist btw.” later, canadian actor ryan reynolds, who lived briefly in vanier as a teen and has supported ottawa charities, tweeted that he was the real bruce.

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elizabeth payne
elizabeth payne

elizabeth payne is an award winning health journalist whose stories became must-reads during the covid-19 pandemic and beyond.

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