Playing out on the front lines of healthcare, and how those harms can drive the decisions and the policies Going Forward that can affect other platforms are held accountable and how they behave. So lets start with a short video if we can. To illustrate the damaging impact that disinformation can have on healthcare professional professionals, on consumers who turn to social media for information, about covid19 generally and about how to protect themselves. Take a look. I have had colleagues that shared with me tragic cases of intentional bleach that were aimed at preventing or curing covid19 by patients who had been misled by social media. That is how the disinformation has spread in our communities. All the disinformation is putting my patient at risk in the sense if people come in that it had symptoms and they havent gone to see a physician because the decided the virus isnt ist real. They were told its just like the flu. By the time they came to the hospital, one of them died on the spot. It was too late to save them. Obviously we have all changed but now its a new chapter which weve never been before and how Healthcare Providers from all of the world get together to try to fight this, to try to fight disinformation and save lives. The social media platforms not only could do more, should do more, and honestly the leaders of those companies, i dont know how the sleep at night. This misinformation and disinformation is affecting Public Health, affecting my life, i patients life, the lives of vulnerable populations and its causing harm. And so there you have some sense obviously, on what people in frontline, doctors are experiencing now. We will turn into a distinguished group of people to talk about how covid19 has led to real harms that a certain patients, this disinformation around covid as they say. We could hear from frontline doctors were dealing with patients life and death, and lawmakers are focused as i said earlier on sides, on covid disinformation and on the responsibility of the platforms. Senator patty murray from washington state, democrat on a health, education, labor and Pensions Committee has jurisdiction. So does congressman David Cicilline, chair of the House CommitteeJudiciary Committee antitrust subcommittee looking hard at the role of the platforms and the context of editors and other things, and from United Kingdom the distinguished Damian Collins is one the founder of the National Committee on disinformation, conservative member of parliament who is conducted a number of hearings on disinformation social media platforms responsibility. We are all also going to hear from two doctors because is where the action is taken place over the consequences are the greatest. Patients patients lives, in hos where people are battling this pandemic very directly and personally. Doctor moreau and doctor weiss. Dr. Murray design the video, an epidemiologist and a medical doctor having received his degrees come served on the senior faculty in your in new york. A fellow at the National Clinicians scholar at yale school of medicine, a graduate of Duke University medical school. Talk a little bit about, more about your experience and why you think this is as serious the patients lives and to your and other doctors practice as you d do. Thank thank you, frank, thanu to organized panelists and audience. My blessings to you all and your families during this tragic time. As a parent and physician my neighborhood, i personally have borne witness to how lives propagate on the internet without the virus sort of kill people. My experiences, my hospital a blur of breathing machines, video calls, family members saying goodbye alone, of overstretched nurses and physicians, respiratory technicians and other clinicians and healthcare workers, all of us through it all i gained strength from the patients and families who are hopeful, and fearless. So much of this horror show was preventable. While there are many contributing factors, chief among them is misinformation, fake news, that covid19 was created by the government of china, that social distancing measures are ineffective, athome remedies can prevent the people of african descent are immune, the people of chinese descent are more likely to spread disease. That closure of businesses are a political plot, that bleach cures covid. As Speaker Pelosi articulated, this is a true moment of national here in the United States and global reckoning. The internet is essential infrastructure. Just as we hold Companies Accountable for polluting hour air and waterways in food, we must hold Companies Accountable for the deaths caused by polluting hour families, our kids and our communities [inaudible] a Global Movement of doctors, nurses and other Health Professionals is going to hold tech Companies Accountable, i and other doctors work to issue an open letter, facebook, twitter, google and youtube telling them are no longer going to be fighting two pandemic so much and it must stop giving covid misinformation, the oxygen that it is taking to destroy our communities. I just thank you all for your time and your effort and your fearlessness in combating this, and for joining us all together in this moment of reckoning to save lives and to make our communities, families, kids healthier. Dr. Maru, thank you for the work that you are doing with all these patients and people who are sick and suffering. And for your voice, the levy wrote and all the other actions you are taking to try to also bring pressure to bear on as you say this info dimmick. I would like to think George Washington [inaudible] im having little bit of difficulty hearing you. Pratchett its become just a bit. I dont know if it is my volume on this end or yours but if you give us all the more well see if we can absolutely. Im a a black woman, a pediatrician and im a servant of the community. I invite you to consider how inaccurate messaging on social media impacts black and brown communities in the context of covid19. This disinformation often compounds the mistrust the black and brown individuals feel in this country on a regular basis here the seeds of mistrust have been so at so many levels from Historical Context of the tuskegee experiment to the current Racial Injustice and Structural Racism we are witnessing through this pandemic. Sometimes individuals live in more [inaudible] sometimes black and brown individuals are often the essential we didnt increase risk when exposed to the stars. I remember in the early phase of covid19 personally reading many comments on social media and plying the black people could not get the virus. It was deemed a hoax and the message was spread that covid19 was no worse than the flu. I was disheartened and unnerved by this come often try to combat these mr. Speaker so little was known. For a group of refugees, these messages really rang true. They didnt think they could get the virus because it the only individual space on social media were white or those who were world travelers. So consider how this disinformation, this imagery, directly contribute to the delight of testing for my minorities even when they were sick because they didnt fit the criteria that was perpetrated online. There were even circumstance of her patients were sick and asked for testing but they were turned away because they didnt fit the criteria. This often led to minorities being sicker and presenting later cost lives. As one colleague of mine described, he took care of one severely ill latino patient and he was very fearful of even coming to the hospital because of the Disinformation Campaign online. He was afraid he would be deported and separated from his family all for coming to get treatment. I have gotten all types of questions during this time. Ive been asked on social media if wearing mask for too long could lead to the Carbon Dioxide poisoning. Drinking bleach should be done as a precaution, and actually worry as a position because of the harmful this widely spread disinformation will have my patience. Another instance, its been widely should an Digital Media platforms that hot climates and seasonal change will kill the virus. Before my colleagues have taken care of patients on the u. S. Southern border, this particularly led to major consequences, people being less cautious, people not social distancing, people not wanting to wear masks. My last point of concern that i grapple with currently is how all of the circulating disinformation spread across social media will impact minority groups when the vaccine is available. I hope people begin to think very critically about the messaging thats apple fight on social media and having trusted authorities to decide that information come more clear information at the time of such great crisis. We grieve for all those who lost their lives and for the loved ones during this pandemic. Dr. Weiss, thank you very, very much, and really again want to thank you for the work you are doing with your patience and with your community to save lives. Before we go to the legislators, dr. Weiss, let me ask you one very quick question and perhaps back to dr. Maru, very, very quickly. You have heard with your own ears from your patience the disinformation reflected from what they have picked up through social media, correct . Yes. Okay. This is that something you read about. You were hearing this in your practice with your patience. Do you ask of them where did this come from . Do you tell them, do you know if this is a fake information . What do the county about disinformation disinformation that they are getting . Oftentimes asked directly to look at a specific reference. For instance, theres this post on x platform. Can you walk me through how this mask can cause Carbon Dioxide poison . So they will show you the platform and you will see it is fake information, bogus information . Yes, i have been personally messaged online regarding some of this disinformation. So sometimes its an form of infographics pick sometimes its an form of direct message. Is anything there in your patient shows you that i wear it is come to you some i can see that it has been flagged, that it is suspicious, that it is a Bad Information . Or does it look to your patience completely credible . I would say it looks completely credible. Theres no flak on it to say this is disinformation. Dr. Maru, have you and others wrote to the social media platform explaining and complaining, what response did you get . We certainly havent seen much of the leadership response whatsoever from the companies on the specific concerns that we have. In fact, when, dr. Weiss mentioned about cracking the record and about detoxifying the algorithm so that they are not actively promoting and i would also say profiting from the spread of misinformation, and thats why we really collectively as a Global Community need to continue to put pressure on these companies for them to be forced to do the right thing for our families and communities. Thank you. Lets turn to our legislators and now. Again, three legislators from the United States and United Kingdom who are especially focused on covid19 disinformation around and the responsibility of the platforms with respect to this disinformation. Senator patty murray, lets start with you. First, your response to what you just heard from these doctors. Thanks for having me, and thank you to both dr. Maru and dr. Weiss for the incredible stories. Its so clear that in order to fight the spread of covid19 and keep our communities and family safe we have to fight the spread of disinformation, whether it comes from shadowing corners of the internet or shocking as it seems on the podium of the president of United States. Its challenging enough to battle a new virus or we are constantly learning new information, whether its about how it spreads or how it affects people or how to fight it, but its even more challenging when the unknown are being not by experts, not by science by rumor, rumors started by people with cruel intentions. Some are spread by people with good information. They just may be scared and looking for answers. But too few are stop by those with the power to set the record straight. Weve already seen how Bad Information could put lives at risk, how racist tropes about the virus has really stoked discrimination, how inaccurate comparison to the flu have given people a false sense of security and how unproven treatment can have deadly consequences. This pandemic really has laid bare the reality that fighting disinformation isnt just a question of two or false. It really is a matter of life or death true or false. I think that more than ever we need trusted reliable that mightve looked to the white house for leadership but instead of fighting disinformation weve seen this president repeatedly undermined the credibility of the white house and use the platform of the presidency to give falsehood, comparing the virus to flu, calling testing overrated, suggesting we look at bleach or sunshine as treatment. The statements are just wrong. They really are dangerous point todays discussion really important. Im glad were having it come an opportunity to make clear just what is at stake for Public Health here in the fight against disinformation, and to continue to demand that the Trump Administration allow science to guide our response and communication about this virus. I would like to ask dr. Maru, how important is this disinformation is flagged on media platforms including social media when some of the information is coming from the president himself . Absolutely. The president should be held accountable and should, for the spread of misinformation, just like all of us. It particularly dangerous when individuals in such great positions of power are spreading misinformation, and its on us as a Global Community to hold the platforms accountable to not allowing such dangerous, such a dangerous misinformation to be spread. It literally is killing people, and we cannot emphasize that enough, and nobody should be immune to any corrective actions that these platforms take. Thank you. And dr. Weiss, incredible statement at a critically important time about Racial Disparities and health disparities, and you dedicated your career to this and want to ask you how does disinformation impact our ability to address the Significant Health disparities we are seeing when it comes to covid19 . I think the impact of disinformation is very critical. So many people look to social media for their information at this time. Some of the youth in particular look solely to social media, even in the context of some of our healthcare professionals, individuals that care for the patients. Often get this disinformation so were often trying to combat disinformation one oneonone g patient interactions, but also what individuals are hearing. Thank you, and this disinformation about an infectious aggressive disease outbreak has the potential to harm every aspect of our response, including the care that patients get. Thats especially true when the disease is not all like covid19, doctor sais the challenging task of treating a disease about which we know very little. So dr. Weiss, how does disinformation provide health cures ability to understand the new disease and advise their patients . We often seek out trusted sources, journal articles, through the Scientific Community in hopes of getting the most accurate current uptodate information. But that is clouded oftentimes by the misinformation that we see distributed on different platforms. It takes a lot of dedication to reading, being open to listening to your colleagues, looking at trusted sources for information so we can then share the trusted information to our patients. Thank you. Thank you to both of you. And thank you, senator murphy at really appreciate it. I think youre going to hang threat and going to say to the journalists were part of this conversation or watching this conversation, please feel free to put your questions in and in a few minutes i will turn to some of those questions from others who are participating to turn to the legislators who joined us here. Lets move next to congressman David Cicilline in. Thank you for joining us. I hope youre healthy. I hope youre finding some relief from this at the numbers are plateauing or coming down. You have concentrated on disinformation for quite some time now. Obviously they covid19 crisis we are discussing makes even more critical because lives are literally in the balance here. Take a few minutes to get us your perspective and what you make of this conversation that youve heard here today, but in particular what can be done, what must be done by the platforms to address this problem . Thank you, frank. Good morning. Its great to be with you, and thank you for including me in part of todays really important conversation on the realworld effects of social media disinformation on Peoples Health and safety, and up through the course to be with panelists such as a speaker, several of my other colleagues. This important discussion really touches on several of the topics that event actively discussed as part of hearing before the International Grand committee and a happy to join Damian Collins and some of the other members of the igc for todays conversation as well. 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