Countering COVID-19 Misinformation: The Impact on Health Care Providers

The COVID-19 pandemic has sparked debates about a number of public health measures, including social distancing, masks, and vaccines. Social media has been the outlet for much of this conflict, and health care providers have, in many cases, been at the center of these debates, whether willing or not. Some health care providers report being targeted for publicly encouraging pandemic mitigation measures such as vaccines, masks, and distancing. In some instances, providers have been targeted on physician rating websites by opponents. In this virtual panel discussion, health care providers and policy makers will discuss these experiences and the broader impacts of social media on their work during the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as strategies for responding to misinformation.

Panelists

• Introduction: Carmel Shachar, Executive Director, Petrie-Flom Center
• Susan Benesch, Director, Dangerous Speech Project and Faculty Associate, Berkman Klein Center For Internet & Society
• Robin Cogan, MEd, RN, NCSN, FAAN, Nationally Certified School Nurse
• Shikha Jain, Assistant Professor of Medicine, Division of Hematology and Oncology, University of Illinois Cancer Center, and CEO, IMPACT
• Moderator: Stephen Wood, Visiting Fellow, Petrie-Flom Center; and Acute care nurse practitioner practicing emergency medicine, Boston, MA

About the Petrie-Flom Center

The Petrie-Flom Center for Health Law Policy, Biotechnology, and Bioethics at Harvard Law School was founded in 2005 through a generous gift from Joseph H. Flom and the Carroll and Milton Petrie Foundation. The Center’s founding mission was to promote interdisciplinary analysis and legal scholarship in these fields. Today, the Center has grown into a leading research program dedicated to the unbiased legal and ethical analysis of pressing questions facing health policymakers, medical professionals, patients, families, and others who influence and are influenced by health care and the health care system. To achieve this goal, the Center fosters a community of leading intellectuals, practitioners, and policymakers from a variety of backgrounds at all stages in their careers, across Harvard University and across the world.

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