As part of a panel about medical misinformation, Dan Romer, research director of the Annenberg Public Policy Center (APPC), presented findings from APPC research regarding the role of the internet as a source of misinformation that is harmful to young people. Romer spoke about “Misinformation on the Internet: Its Effects on Youth” at the Oct. 29, 2024, panel “How to protect the health of the public in an era of misinformation,” organized by the Friends of the National Library of Medicine.
Other presenters discussed the rise of medications to treat obesity, the increase in unregulated health products, and the loss of faith in vaccination.
Romer reviewed the rise of advertising and influencers on social media as a driver of misinformation to young people, using tobacco promotion as a case study. He also described how messages that promote self-harm can be directed toward vulnerable young people. The ability to send these messages is unencumbered by the lax legal restrictions regarding the content of internet platforms. Reforms to those laws are being proposed, but challenges in implementation remain.
He closed by noting that the moral panic surrounding the use of the internet and especially mobile phones leaves out the context of what is contributing to poor mental health of young people in the US. He noted how youth in the US appear to be more at risk of poor mental health than in other comparable countries and how this must be taken into account in drawing conclusions about the effects of the internet to which young people are also subject around the world.
Romer’s past research has focused on adolescents and young adults and a variety of risk factors and risky behaviors, including gun violence, alcohol, and tobacco use in movies and television; teen driving; risk-taking and teenage brain development; internet gaming; drug prevention in schools; the Netflix show “13 Reasons Why” and adolescent suicide; and whether smart phones and screen media have contributed to the rise in adolescent suicide and dysphoria.
