Social media can be hazardous to your health.
In my social media reels from Instagram, Facebook and YouTube, I receive “sponsored” deepfake health care cures and “tricks” to reverse Alzheimer’s, shrink prostates, or repair blurred vision. It’s an endless screed of bogus health headlines featuring cultural icons like Anthony Fauci, Anderson Cooper, Bill Gates, Mehmet Oz, Clint Eastwood, Bruce Willis, and Denzel Washington. Most of these influencers are AI deepfakes.
These videos can spin on for 45 minutes, ending with a sales pitch for miracle pills — before stocks run out. What begins as a “baking soda and honey trick” turns into a list of ginseng extract, pink Himalayan salt, evergreen tree, and angelica extract. A “Blueberry Trick” promises a “natural cure for dementia and even Alzheimer’s.” A “warm water method” to regulate your blood sugar turns into a pitch to eliminate a parasite in your prostate, narrated by two doctors peddling pumpkin seed oil and Japanese saw palmetto. On a “privacy policy” page, one video sponsor offers this disclaimer: “It’s important to consult your doctor before making any dietary or lifestyle changes. Individual results may vary and results are not guaranteed.”
Elon Musk is one omnipresent pitchman for a warehouse full of medicine show miracles. Musk’s “Cure Fight” pills “not only clears the body of drug toxins, but also repairs brain neurons in just days.” “This product wasn’t made for profit,” boasts the man whose net worth, according to Forbes, is $723 billion. “It’s priced just about the same as a pack of cigarettes.”
My AI search of one brain health supplement which featured Dr. Sanjay Gupta, Cher, and Bill Gates, revealed that customer reviews are “overwhelmingly negative,” and “raised significant concerns regarding its legitimacy, effectiveness and marketing practices.” The BBB gave the company an ‘F’ rating, and a reviewer on Trust Pilot complained: “They will not return my $294. It’s a horrible scam.”
Another product promised to fight cadmium chloride, a toxic carcinogen causing brain fog, by combining cedar honey and the herb Bacopa Monnieri. But the Top 5 Brain Boosters website says: “Its effects are mostly temporary, relying on caffeine-based stimulants. The formula doesn’t address the root causes of memory decline or brain damage.” The company recommends a treatment of six bottles at $49 per bottle. The fine print on their website warned: “Statements on this website have not been evaluated by the FDA. Products are not intended to treat, cure, or prevent diseases. You should do your own research. Some names and personal identifications have been changed to protect the privacy of individuals.”
Fifty-nine percent of adults in the U.S. watch YouTube health-related videos monthly. That’s millions of misleading and deceptive health videos screened every month. In 2022, YouTube introduced “YouTube Health” to help individuals find trustworthy sources of public health information. Meta, which accepts many sponsored health reels, has a policy on deceptive and misleading practices: “We aim to protect users and businesses from being deceived out of their money, property or personal information. We achieve this by removing content… that purposefully employs deceptive means — such as willful misrepresentation, stolen information and exaggerated claims.” Meta claims it protects users from content that “promotes false or misleading health… by employing click-bait tactics, such as the use of sensational language that make exaggerated or extreme claims.” Yet Facebook and Instagram themselves still run amok with deepfake health “hacks.”
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) says it “heavily regulates social media marketing for health products.” The FTC requires that “all health claims made in social media posts, ads, or by influencers are truthful and not misleading.” Ads must have solid scientific evidence (clinical studies) to back up any claimed health benefits. Advertisers must have “a reasonable basis for their product claims before disseminating an ad.” Influencer endorsements must disclose any payments received.
Consumers can go to ReportFraud.ftc.gov to report any false or misleading medical treatment or cure. The FTC says the content for any health product sold on social media “must be honest, scientifically supported, and clearly disclose any paid relationships to avoid FTC enforcement actions, which can include fines.”
“If you have honey at home,” one video claims, “you have 90% of what you need to reverse memory loss.” Use the other 10% of your memory to unplug your laptop. Take your health care questions to your doctor first. Our government says its protecting consumers — yet every day more deepfake health care “tricks” arrive. Shut down your cell phone and try a long walk “trick” instead to maintain health.
Al Norman’s Pushback column is published in the Recorder the first and third Wednesday of every month.