Fighting Misinformation on Social Media: YouTube Cancer Videos

Online misinformation can have a significant impact on the decisions people make for their health. Many studies have assessed the quality of the information found on social media that pertains to healthcare topics. The information on types of cancer such as bladder cancer and prostate cancer which is easy for patients to retrieve on popular platforms such as Facebook and YouTube has questionable quality. Therefore, we propose a research effort that will study YouTube videos that discuss the previously mentioned types of cancer. The aim of this research is twofold: develop a model that can distinguish types of misinformation such as product promotion or bias to screening. This will help patients find more reliable content. Secondly, we aim to investigate potential interventions that can help reduce the virality of poor-quality information of YouTube videos related to bladder and prostate cance