Prof. Stephanie Alice Baker Discusses TikTok's Promotion of Fake Cancer Cures

After heart disease cancer is the leading cause of death in the US. Forty percent of Americans will be diagnosed with cancer in their lifetime. Timely diagnosis and treatment of cancer has always been a concern made worse by the COVID pandemic and the ongoing problem of un- and under-insurance. Another reason for concern is the increasing use of networked-based social media sites used to advertise bogus cancer cures, particularly to Generation Z, or those 27 or under, who increasing use social media sites as de facto search engines. Dr. Baker’s recent research reveals health disinformation is rife on TikTok via its “For You” algorithm that directs users to fake cures and conspiratorial content via primarily five themes including personal anecdotes, conspiracy theories and spiritual messaging. (Devoted listeners may recall I interviewed Harvard’s Dr. Susan Linn two yrs ago next month re: her 2022 book, “Who’s Raising the Kids?” a critique of the “kid tech” world’s pernicious influence on children.)

Prof. Baker’s, article, “Link in Bio: Fake Cancer Cures, Radicalization and Disinformation on a Democratic Society,” is at: https://osf.io/preprints/socarxiv/pqs5e. Information regarding her most recent book, “Wellness Culture: How the Wellness Movement Has Been Use to Empower, Profit and Misinform,” is at: https://bookstore.emerald.com/wellness-culture.html.    

Prof. Baker serves as Deputy Head of the Department of Sociology and Criminology and a Reader in Sociology at City St. George's, University of London.

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