Pharma’s Role in an Era of Elon Musk’s Twitter, Disinformation, and Misinformation

It’s been a pretty wild ride for anyone following the news of Elon Musk’s takeover of Twitter. What began as possibly the world’s most expensive tantrum has quickly evolved into what appears to be a record attempt for the world’s fastest burning down of a multi-billion-dollar brand.

While Twitter is certainly not the only social media brand to be experiencing problems right now – one only has to cast a cursory eye over Mark Zuckerberg’s disastrous metaverse project to confirm that – it does provide an opportune moment to address a problem which has been increasingly dominating headlines over the last few years – disinformation and misinformation.

From a former US president’s inability to accept defeat leading to an attempted coup to wild claims regarding the shape of our planet, social media has become a convenient channel through which conspiracists, and bad actors can rapidly spread lies and false information to a global audience. Never has the phrase, "A lie can be halfway around the world before the truth has even got its shoes on,” been more appropriate.

COVID-19

Of course, one of the most recent examples of the dangers of disinformation was writ large during the global COVID-19 crisis. During the pandemic, there was no end of bad faith commentators who were happy to spread wild claims, such as the use of untested and unproven treatments such as ivermectin or that the disease was caused by 5G mobile broadcast equipment, if it meant they could get more clicks and boost their social profile and income.

Of course, spreading disinformation might be good for the bank accounts of those doing the spreading, but it can have far more dire consequences for those who are drawn in by such claims and neglect to follow real evidence-based health advice.

It is incredibly likely according to most scientists in the field that COVID-19 will not be the last pandemic we are forced to deal with, which means it will also not be the last time we have to deal with these bad actors spreading false information for fun and profit. The pharma industry therefore has a responsibility to use its reach and social media influence to assist in the propagation of accurate guidance and to help educate the general public on how to sort good information from bad.

The fact of the matter is that the average person is not good at spotting disinformation and misinformation. It could be argued that one of the most useful skills one acquires when studying at a degree level is critical evaluation and, while some parts of the world are beginning to introduce these topics to children at a younger age, things are not moving fast enough to effectively combat the rapid spread of disinformation and misinformation on platforms such as Twitter and TikTok.

Pfizer

One brand which is more than happy to throw its hat into the ring when it comes to using social media to combat disinformation and misinformation is the same one responsible for the primary COVID-19 vaccine product, Pfizer.

As one of the world’s premier biopharmaceutical companies, the Manhattan-based Pfizer recently put out a tweet which declared, "Wouldn't it be great if a few internet searches could land you a PhD? Thank goodness for real scientists,” followed by a meme image which read, "Incredible! Area man now fully-fledged scientist thanks to one internet search.”

After some debate as to whether the tweet was from a genuine Pfizer Twitter account, or was another example of trolling facilitated by Elon Musk’s policy of granting a blue tick verification mark to anyone who pays for one (such as when a user tanked the stock of Eli Lilly by creating a fake account, purchasing a blue tick, and declaring that insulin would now be given away for free), if was confirmed this was the real deal and clearly demonstrated how brands in the space are tired of being the targets of disinformation and misinformation campaigns.

To see the extent of the problem, one only must see the thousands of comments and quote tweets which are overwhelmingly negative towards Pfizer, asking questions such as "what are you afraid of?” or taking exception to the mocking tone of the post.

While the tone of the post is certainly a departure from Pfizer’s usual social media output, we can only hope that it will make even a handful of people reconsider the way they seek and spread information online. Using a little cheeky humor can be an effective way to grab people’s attention, however, we would advise pharma brands back it up by using social media to be more transparent about the process of developing products and share evidence and advice using these channels.

Final Thoughts

Social media can be a powerful tool for spreading disinformation and misinformation, it’s true. However, these channels can also be used to combat that same disinformation and misinformation. Pharma brands have a responsibility to inform and educate their audiences with clear and transparent information and do their part to fight these dangerous campaigns.

Social media as a tool for good or ill is sure to be a hot topic at Future Pharma 2023, being held in June at The Westin Copley Place, Boston, MA.

Download the agenda today for more information and insights.