Regarding Twitter’s acquisition by Elon Musk, the World Health Organization was quizzed about the dangers of “misinformation” about the pandemic on social media.
Responding to a question about Musk’s $44 billion bid to acquire Twitter, executive director of WHO’s health emergencies program Mike Ryan said misinformation leads to death.
“When anyone reaches a position in life where they have so much influence over the way information is shared with communities, they take on a huge responsibility,” Ryan said at the press conference in Geneva. “We wish Mr Musk luck with his endeavors to improve the quality of information we all receive.”
“In the case of this pandemic, good information is life-saving,” said Ryan. “Bad information sends you to some very bad places.”
Throughout the pandemic, the WHO has worked with social media platforms to provide users with “approved” information about the pandemic. But it has also been the subject of controversy, especially for insisting that the virus did not originate from a lab in Wuhan, China, and made several statements that have later turned out to be untrue.
