Jeremy Snyder is with the Faculty of Health Sciences, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada. Marco Zenone is a PhD candidate at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London, UK. Timothy Caulfield is with the Faculty of Law, the School of Public Health, and the Health Law Institute, University of Alberta, Edmonton.
Am J Public Health. 2021 Apr;111(4):739-742. doi: 10.2105/AJPH.2020.306121. Epub 2021 Feb 18.
To understand whether and how crowdfunding campaigns are a source of COVID-19-related misinformation. We searched the GoFundMe crowdfunding platform using 172 terms associated with medical misinformation about COVID-19 prophylaxes and treatments. We screened resulting campaigns for those making statements about the ability of these searched-for or related terms to prevent or treat COVID-19. There were 208 campaigns worldwide that requested $21 475 568, raised $324 305 from 4367 donors, and were shared 24 158 times. The most discussed interventions were dietary supplements and purported immune system boosters (n = 231), followed by other forms of complementary and alternative medicine (n = 24), and unproven medical interventions (n = 15). Most (82.2%) of the campaigns made definitive efficacy claims. Campaigners focused their efforts on dietary supplements and immune system boosters. Campaigns for purported COVID-19 treatments are particularly concerning, but purported prophylaxes could also distract from known effective preventative approaches. GoFundMe should join other online and social media platforms to actively restrict campaigns that spread misinformation about COVID-19 or seek to better inform campaigners about evidence-based prophylaxes and treatments.
为了了解众筹活动是否以及如何成为与 COVID-19 相关错误信息的来源。我们使用了 172 个与 COVID-19 预防和治疗相关的医学错误信息相关的术语，在 GoFundMe 众筹平台上进行了搜索。我们对搜索到的结果进行了筛查，以确定这些术语或相关术语是否有预防或治疗 COVID-19 的能力。全球有 208 个活动，共请求 2147.5568 美元，从 4367 名捐赠者中筹集到 324305 美元，并分享了 24158 次。讨论最多的干预措施是膳食补充剂和据称的免疫系统增强剂（n=231），其次是其他形式的补充和替代医学（n=24）和未经证实的医疗干预措施（n=15）。大多数（82.2%）活动都提出了明确的疗效声明。活动家们专注于膳食补充剂和免疫系统增强剂。针对所谓的 COVID-19 治疗方法的活动尤其令人担忧，但所谓的预防措施也可能分散人们对已知有效预防方法的注意力。GoFundMe 应该与其他在线和社交媒体平台合作，积极限制传播有关 COVID-19 的错误信息或寻求更好地告知活动家有关基于证据的预防和治疗方法的活动。
