Author
ACHI Staff
In an opinion piece for the Arkansas Advocate, ACHI President and CEO Dr. Joe Thompson discusses the recent decision by Twitter to stop enforcing its COVID-19 misinformation policy, which he calls “an apparent abdication of Twitter’s responsibility to protect users from potentially harmful content.”
The decision “opens the floodgates for snake oil salesmen at a time when people experiencing long COVID-19 are increasingly desperate for anything that will help,” he writes.
Thompson reflects on various myths about COVID-19 that have circulated during the pandemic and provides a concrete example of misinformation’s impact in Arkansas: Unsupported claims about the drug ivermectin led to its increased usage in the state. He also offers tips for recognizing misinformation.
See more on our COVID-19 in Arkansas page in the newly added section, “Combating COVID-19 Misinformation.”
We also rounded up Thompson’s media interviews on this topic on our blog.
