COVID-19 misinformation is currently common on Facebook, Twitter, and other giant social media platforms. However, anti-vaccine comments and other content are unusual if they can be found in a medical social network.
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This is now the main issue of various doctors on Doximity, an industry networking site used by medical experts and researchers. They claimed that even their fellow physicians are spreading fake news about the current ongoing global pandemic.
One of the affected doctors is Dr. Paul Malarik, a retired psychiatrist who is now spending around 50 hours a month to help people have their COVID-19 vaccine jabs.
He is currently doing this in a pop-up clinic near his house, located in San Luis Obispo, California. The medical expert claimed that he was surprised after discovering that some of his colleagues spread fake news about the coronavirus.
"You rarely get to the level of microchips in vaccines, but a lot of this stuff is pretty close to it," said Dr. Malarik.
COVID-19 Misinformation Spreads in Doximity
According to CNBC's latest report, Doximity held its stock market debut in June. Its value surprisingly increased by around $10 billion market cap.
On the other hand, the company added that it had around 1.8 million members. Around 80% of them are health experts, especially physicians across the United States.
Doximity is quite popular since it serves as the main LinkedIn for doctors, allowing them to connect. Aside from this, they could also use the website to share, be updated with the medical industry, as well as have secured communications with their patients.
Dr. Paul's statements are currently concerning since the COVID-19 misinformation he sees on the platform is the same as on YouTube, Facebook, and other giant online platforms.
If this continues, there's a high chance that other medical experts would also be affected, especially since new coronavirus variants, such as Delta and Lambda, are now spreading across different countries.
Sky News Australia Allegedly Spreads COVID-19 Misinformation
Doximity is not the only platform that unexpectedly spreads fake news. BBC News reported that Sky News Australia, one of the reliable news sources in Australia, was banned by YouTube for more than a week because of alleged COVID-19 misinformation.
The giant video platform announced that Sky News Australia has clearly established COVID-19 medical misinformation policies based on international and local health authority guidance.
For more news updates about COVID-19 misinformation and other related topics, always keep your tabs open here at TechTimes.
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Written by: Griffin Davis
