![\"\"](\"http:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/800-2.jpg\")
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
By DAVID KLEPPER<\/p>\n
U.S. Surgeon General\u00a0Vivek Murthy<\/a>\u00a0on Thursday called for a national effort to fight\u00a0misinformation about COVID-19 and vaccines<\/a>, urging tech companies, health care workers, journalists and everyday Americans to do more to address an \u201curgent threat\u201d to public health.<\/p>\n In\u00a0a 22-page advisory<\/a>, his first as President Joe Biden\u2019s surgeon general, Murthy wrote that bogus claims have led people to reject vaccines and public health advice on\u00a0masks and social distancing<\/a>, undermining efforts to end\u00a0the coronavirus pandemic<\/a>\u00a0and putting lives at risk.<\/p>\n The warning comes as\u00a0the pace of COVID-19 vaccinations has slowed<\/a>\u00a0throughout the U.S., in part because of vaccine opposition fueled by\u00a0unsubstantiated claims<\/a>\u00a0about the safety of immunizations and despite\u00a0the U.S. death toll recently passing 600,000<\/a>.<\/p>\n Murthy, who also served as surgeon general under President Barack Obama, noted that surgeon general advisories have typically focused on physical threats to health, such as tobacco. Misinformation about COVID-19, deemed an \u201cinfodemic\u201d by the World Health Organization, can be just as deadly, he said.<\/p>\n \u201cMisinformation poses an imminent and insidious threat to our nation\u2019s health,\u201d Murthy said during remarks to reporters Thursday at the White House. \u201cWe must confront misinformation as a nation. Lives are depending on it.\u201d<\/p>\n Given the role the internet plays in spreading health misinformation, Murthy said technology companies and social media platforms must make meaningful changes to their products and software to reduce the spread of misinformation while increasing access to authoritative, fact-based sources.<\/p>\n Too often, he said, the platforms are built to encourage, not counter, the spread of misinformation.<\/p>\n \u201cWe are asking them to step up,\u201d Murthy said. \u201cWe can\u2019t wait longer for them to take aggressive action.\u201d<\/p>\n The criticism is not new, and Facebook, YouTube, Twitter and other platforms have defended their work to stem the tide of misinformation. In a response to Murthy, Twitter noted that it has removed more than 40,000 pieces of content that violated its COVID-19 misinformation rules.<\/p>\n \u201cWe agree with the surgeon general,\u201d Twitter said in a statement. \u201cTackling health misinformation takes a whole-of-society approach.\u201d<\/p>\n Murthy\u2019s recommendations went beyond tech firms. Teachers, he said, should expand lessons on media literacy and critical thinking. Journalists, he suggested, should work to responsibly debunk health misinformation without inadvertently spreading it further. And public health professionals, he added, should do a better job answering questions and explaining why public health guidelines sometimes change based on new information.<\/p>\n As for everyday Americans, Murthy urged them to verify questionable health information with trusted sources like the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and to exercise critical thinking when exposed to unverified claims. If people have loved ones or friends who believe or spread misinformation, he said, it\u2019s best to engage by listening and asking questions rather than by confronting them.<\/p>\n While some groups that push health misinformation do so for profit or other motives, many Americans may be spreading false information without realizing it, according to the advisory.<\/p>\n \u201cMisinformation hasn\u2019t just harmed our physical health \u2014 it has also divided our families, friends, and communities,\u201d Murthy wrote in the advisory. \u201cThe only way to address health misinformation is to recognize that all of us, in every sector of society, have a responsibility to act.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n