As many as 81% of cancer cures touted by content creators on TikTok are fake, according to new research from City St George's, University of London. The ethnographic study by Dr. Stephanie Alice Baker, reader in sociology, gave TikTok's algorithm free rein to recommend videos to a user looking for cancer cures.
It found that only 19% of monitored videos contained legitimate medical advice. Gen Z is particularly vulnerable to this cancer misinformation, as TikTok is used as a search engine by younger demographics and is a key means of accessing health information. Not only is cancer misinformation rife, but the platform allows creators to link to e-commerce stores and websites in which users can purchase harmful products.
TikTokers were able to benefit financially from cancer cure misinformation by selling products including oregano oil, apricot kernels, or dog dewormer (which is unsafe for human consumption). Furthermore, the cancer misinformation videos can become a gateway to more extreme, conspiratorial content. In the attention economy, content creators are encouraged to post increasingly salacious content, as this is incentivized by the algorithm and the creators stand to gain financially.
Of the 163 videos spreading fake cancer cure claims, 32% used conspiracy theories to legitimize their content. Some videos feature contrarian doctors who give credence to the idea that miracle cures are concealed by the government. The endless scroll feature of TikTok renders users sus.