Trending Narrative Alerts
Knowing what health information is trending can help you generate effective messaging.
Alerts are based on the monitoring of publicly available media data from diverse sources like social media, broadcast television, news websites, blogs, online video, and more. While some insights reference specific false claims and conspiracy theories, others are included to indicate gaps in knowledge, concerns, speculation, and other trending discussions. Inclusion is based on reach, velocity of spread, and whether conversations may impact health behaviors and decisions.
Misinformation Alerts
Knowing what misinformation is being shared can help you generate effective messaging.
These insights are based on a combination of automated media monitoring and manual review by public health data analysts. Media data are publicly available data from many sources, such as social media, broadcast television, newspapers and magazines, news websites, online video, blogs, and more. Analysts from the Public Good Projects triangulate this data along with other data from fact checking organizations and investigative sources to provide an accurate, but not exhaustive, list of currently circulating misinformation.
Alerts are categorized as high, medium, and low impact.
- High impact: Narratives with widespread circulation across communities, high engagement, exponential velocity, and a high potential to impact health decisions. Are often more memorable than accurate information.
- Medium impact: Narratives that are circulating in priority populations and pose some threat to health. Potential for further spread due to the tactics used or because of predicted velocity. Often highlights the questions and concerns of people.
- Low impact: Narratives that are limited in reach, don’t impact your community, or lack the qualities necessary for future spread. May indicate information gaps, confusion, or concerns.
On November 26, the pseudo-medical organization World Council for Health reported that it had joined several European countries to call for the “immediate suspension” of mRNA vaccines in a letter to the countries’ heads of state. The letter is signed by a total of eight politicians from Finland, Lithuania, Greenland, Sweden, the Czech Republic, and Australia. None of the signatories are high-ranking elected officials. Several U.S. vaccine opponents shared the letter. A post with over 130,000 engagements as of December 3 claims that WCH is backed by thousands of “physicians and scientists” who believe COVID-19 vaccines are dangerous.
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On November 27, Florida’s surgeon general shared an article from a far right-wing website claiming that mRNA COVID-19 vaccines have “deadly side effects.” The article, which was originally published on a site with a history of promoting false claims and conspiracy theories, cites unverified Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System data and quotes a controversial writer known for promoting anti-vaccine conspiracies. The surgeon general calls the CDC “unethical” for continuing to recommend COVID-19 vaccines. Some responses to the post question the credibility of the article and its source, while others thank the surgeon general for speaking out against COVID-19 vaccines.
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The false narrative that trans identity is a mental health condition resurfaced in November after the first openly transgender person was elected to the U.S. Congress. In response, a South Carolina representative introduced a bill that would ban trans people—including the newly-elected congresswoman—from using bathrooms that align with their gender identities on federal property. On November 20, the sitting representative shared a social media post that read, “Your mental illness will not become my new normal.” The post received nearly 11 million views and 6,700 comments as of December 4. While some comments repeated the false claim that trans identity is a mental health condition, others attempted to debunk the myth.
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On November 15, a social media user shared a post stating that the “cure” for depression is leaving home as much as possible, even when you don’t want to. As of November 20, the post had garnered over 20 million views and 370,000 engagements. Many comments encouraged people experiencing depression to spend time outside and socialize more often. Some, however, stated that the post did not understand depression and that some people may benefit from at-home coping tools.
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On November 14, NPR published an article about vending machines providing free harm reduction tools like naloxone and sterile syringes and explained how these tools prevent overdose deaths and reduce the spread of infectious diseases. Some social media comments suggested that offering free harm reduction tools is “counter-productive” and falsely claimed that harm reduction promotes drug use. Others, however, celebrated these initiatives and correctly stated that harm reduction programs save lives.
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False claims about childhood vaccine safety circulated widely online following President-elect Trump’s November 14 announcement that he nominated Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to head the Department of Health and Human Services. In response, popular posts claimed—without evidence—that vaccines cause autism, that no childhood vaccine is safe, and that routine vaccines are linked to ADHD, sleep disorders, language delays, brain injuries, infertility, obesity, and many other medical conditions. Although several posts also shared the many studies debunking these narratives, vaccine opponents continue to call for new studies, which they say will support their claims. Other users speculated that vaccine manufacturer stocks are “tanking” after the Kennedy announcement because he has pledged to “take in Big Pharma.”
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On November 11, Arcturus Therapeutics announced that the FDA cleared a clinical trial for a self-amplifying mRNA vaccine for H5N1 avian influenza. Vaccine opponents responded to the news with conspiracy theories about the vaccine being dangerous and “shedding” to unvaccinated people. Popular posts described the vaccine as “reckless,” a “disaster waiting to happen,” and a “gain-of-function [experiment] inside the human body.” Several posts attempted to link the experimental vaccines to conspiracy theories about Bill Gates and called for a “clean house” at the FDA.
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A new study by several well-known vaccine opponents claims that “brain clots are 112,000% more likely after COVID-19 vaccination than flu vaccination” and that COVID-19 vaccines are “20,700% more likely to cause brain clots than all vaccines combined.” The study uses VAERS reports of cerebral thromboembolism, a rare blood clot in the brain, to draw this conclusion. The authors called for “an immediate global moratorium on the use of COVID-19 vaccines.”
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Shortly after the U.S. presidential election, the CDC posted about symptoms of H5N1, or bird flu, prompting some social media users to speculate that the agency is indicating a bird flu pandemic is imminent. Several trending posts from pro-vaccine accounts claimed that the CDC “has rapidly” changed its messaging by warning about symptoms instead of emphasizing the relatively low human risk. A narrative has emerged online that this perceived change in messaging is a sign that the bird flu virus is spreading faster than the public is aware and that the CDC waited until people were “distracted” by the election to issue new warnings. There is no evidence to support these claims. One popular post falsely claimed that “the CDC quietly announced H5N1 has likely gone human-to-human transmission.” Meanwhile, reports of Canada’s first suspected human bird flu case stoked fears further, with some commenters pleading with the CDC director to stop “downplaying” bird flu before an “anti-science/anti-health” administration takes over.
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A post with over 2.4 million views and 77,000 engagements claims that the federal government is going to use taxpayer money to “poison” food with “transgenic edible vaccines.” The claim cites a UC Riverside study that has been grossly misrepresented by vaccine opponents, which explores the use of vegetables to produce mRNA vaccines. A congressman with a history of promoting false claims about vaccines claimed that the House of Representatives passed a resolution to allow “franken-food-vaccine research.”
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Alerts are categorized as high, medium, and low impact.
- High impact: Narratives with widespread circulation across communities, high engagement, exponential velocity, and a high potential to impact health decisions. Are often more memorable than accurate information.
- Medium impact: Narratives that are circulating in priority populations and pose some threat to health. Potential for further spread due to the tactics used or because of predicted velocity. Often highlights the questions and concerns of people.
- Low impact: Narratives that are limited in reach, don’t impact your community, or lack the qualities necessary for future spread. May indicate information gaps, confusion, or concerns.
2023 Trends in COVID-19
Vaccine Opposition
This new report details the trends in 2023 discussions about COVID-19 vaccines, identifying both persistent, recurring themes from previous years and new themes that emerged within the year. The goal is to equip public health professionals with information to help navigate future discussions around COVID-19 vaccines.
Categorizing Public Conversation
on Vaccine Opposition to Inform
Health Communications Strategies
This new report leverages PGP’s advanced media monitoring platforms and expertise in vaccine opposition to categorize narratives into patterns. These patterns can help health communicators plan messaging approaches and strategies to improve vaccine uptake.
Vaccine Misinformation Guide
Get practical tips for addressing misinformation in this new guide. Click image to download, or see highlights.
