1 00:00:07,500 --> 00:00:10,740 okay I think this is working I really 2 00:00:10,740 --> 00:00:13,500 hope it's working so I'm gonna go for it 3 00:00:13,500 --> 00:00:17,240 um hi everyone my name is Jenna Sherman 4 00:00:17,240 --> 00:00:20,279 I am very sorry that I can't be with all 5 00:00:20,279 --> 00:00:23,580 of you in person I was so so pumped for 6 00:00:23,580 --> 00:00:25,619 my first Defcon unfortunately at a 7 00:00:25,619 --> 00:00:28,080 family emergency 8 00:00:28,080 --> 00:00:31,320 um a brain surgery situation with my dad 9 00:00:31,320 --> 00:00:34,020 he's doing okay 10 00:00:34,020 --> 00:00:36,180 um anyway so I am sitting here and 11 00:00:36,180 --> 00:00:39,120 coming to you guys from the interwebs 12 00:00:39,120 --> 00:00:42,899 and I hope that you enjoy this talk 13 00:00:42,899 --> 00:00:43,680 um 14 00:00:43,680 --> 00:00:45,540 so I think I said it earlier but I'm 15 00:00:45,540 --> 00:00:47,820 Jenna Sherman I'm a program manager at 16 00:00:47,820 --> 00:00:51,059 the technology nonprofit Medan we do a 17 00:00:51,059 --> 00:00:52,800 lot of things there but basically it 18 00:00:52,800 --> 00:00:55,020 boils down to providing services and 19 00:00:55,020 --> 00:00:58,800 tools to improve information online I 20 00:00:58,800 --> 00:01:01,079 have a background in public health and 21 00:01:01,079 --> 00:01:02,699 work on improving information online 22 00:01:02,699 --> 00:01:04,860 specific to health I've also done some 23 00:01:04,860 --> 00:01:06,600 tech ethics so that's kind of why I'm 24 00:01:06,600 --> 00:01:08,520 where I am now 25 00:01:08,520 --> 00:01:10,560 um and while I'm not a journalist or a 26 00:01:10,560 --> 00:01:12,840 computer scientist I do a lot of science 27 00:01:12,840 --> 00:01:14,880 writing and 28 00:01:14,880 --> 00:01:17,939 um thinking about how and studying how 29 00:01:17,939 --> 00:01:19,979 information about health is spread 30 00:01:19,979 --> 00:01:21,840 online and we are going to be talking 31 00:01:21,840 --> 00:01:24,479 about that today in the context of 32 00:01:24,479 --> 00:01:28,920 gendered Health so let's get into it 33 00:01:28,920 --> 00:01:31,740 this is the outline of the talk I always 34 00:01:31,740 --> 00:01:34,979 like to have a little framing for talks 35 00:01:34,979 --> 00:01:36,420 and pretty much everything in life so 36 00:01:36,420 --> 00:01:37,380 first I'm going to go over some 37 00:01:37,380 --> 00:01:40,259 background mostly research 38 00:01:40,259 --> 00:01:43,020 um dive into the aims I'll overview the 39 00:01:43,020 --> 00:01:46,020 methods and then get into the meat of it 40 00:01:46,020 --> 00:01:49,740 which is really the the results of this 41 00:01:49,740 --> 00:01:51,180 report that I've been working on I'll 42 00:01:51,180 --> 00:01:53,579 touch on some for Kevin quad data and 43 00:01:53,579 --> 00:01:56,280 and with implications which is what it's 44 00:01:56,280 --> 00:01:57,600 really all about 45 00:01:57,600 --> 00:02:01,200 so first is background 46 00:02:01,200 --> 00:02:03,180 um I'm going to start with a definition 47 00:02:03,180 --> 00:02:06,180 here because this probably isn't super 48 00:02:06,180 --> 00:02:08,520 familiar to everybody at least in this 49 00:02:08,520 --> 00:02:10,199 specific definition form and it's 50 00:02:10,199 --> 00:02:12,360 probably not super specific really known 51 00:02:12,360 --> 00:02:14,280 to everybody because 52 00:02:14,280 --> 00:02:17,760 um I recently coined this term and also 53 00:02:17,760 --> 00:02:20,480 in partnership with one of my colleagues 54 00:02:20,480 --> 00:02:23,340 smriti Singh and 55 00:02:23,340 --> 00:02:26,060 um the term is gendered misinformation 56 00:02:26,060 --> 00:02:30,660 and gender misinformation as we think of 57 00:02:30,660 --> 00:02:33,120 it is the unintentional spread of false 58 00:02:33,120 --> 00:02:34,800 or substandard information that is about 59 00:02:34,800 --> 00:02:38,060 women trans people and non-binary people 60 00:02:38,060 --> 00:02:40,800 and the reason why we landed on this 61 00:02:40,800 --> 00:02:42,420 definition is because we wanted it to be 62 00:02:42,420 --> 00:02:43,739 inclusive of all folks who have 63 00:02:43,739 --> 00:02:45,540 marginalized gender identities and we 64 00:02:45,540 --> 00:02:47,519 wanted it to be broad enough where it 65 00:02:47,519 --> 00:02:48,900 could Encompass other types of this 66 00:02:48,900 --> 00:02:51,239 information even though we are focusing 67 00:02:51,239 --> 00:02:53,400 mostly on health 68 00:02:53,400 --> 00:02:55,080 um so what's the problem that we're 69 00:02:55,080 --> 00:02:57,780 actually talking about here so women 70 00:02:57,780 --> 00:03:00,480 trans people and non-binary people 71 00:03:00,480 --> 00:03:02,459 experience the impacts of Health 72 00:03:02,459 --> 00:03:05,819 misinformation in unique ways and in 73 00:03:05,819 --> 00:03:08,400 disproportionate ways so with less 74 00:03:08,400 --> 00:03:10,980 access to Quality Health Care in person 75 00:03:10,980 --> 00:03:13,800 which is documented in research these 76 00:03:13,800 --> 00:03:16,739 individuals are more likely to turn to 77 00:03:16,739 --> 00:03:18,379 online information 78 00:03:18,379 --> 00:03:21,140 ecosystems for information 79 00:03:21,140 --> 00:03:25,620 and that can often lead to risk outcomes 80 00:03:25,620 --> 00:03:28,500 because of bad or substandard 81 00:03:28,500 --> 00:03:29,659 information 82 00:03:29,659 --> 00:03:35,220 and again this is just due to not only a 83 00:03:35,220 --> 00:03:36,840 lack of access in healthcare but also 84 00:03:36,840 --> 00:03:39,180 marginalization and Health Care stigma 85 00:03:39,180 --> 00:03:41,700 and an existing higher risk of adverse 86 00:03:41,700 --> 00:03:43,560 Health outcomes 87 00:03:43,560 --> 00:03:46,680 but how do we know this like like are we 88 00:03:46,680 --> 00:03:47,700 sure 89 00:03:47,700 --> 00:03:50,099 um so yeah we're we're pretty sure 90 00:03:50,099 --> 00:03:52,260 um the the field is very much still 91 00:03:52,260 --> 00:03:54,420 developing but there is a lot of x-stand 92 00:03:54,420 --> 00:03:57,659 research that points to the high search 93 00:03:57,659 --> 00:04:01,739 rates among this demographic of folks so 94 00:04:01,739 --> 00:04:03,239 I'm not going to go over all of these 95 00:04:03,239 --> 00:04:04,500 studies 96 00:04:04,500 --> 00:04:06,299 um I heard that this is a hacker 97 00:04:06,299 --> 00:04:07,920 conference and not a public health 98 00:04:07,920 --> 00:04:09,840 conference so I'm going to try and steer 99 00:04:09,840 --> 00:04:12,000 away from going too too deep even though 100 00:04:12,000 --> 00:04:13,799 I'm on the academic track which is fun 101 00:04:13,799 --> 00:04:15,780 I'll keep it more high level um these 102 00:04:15,780 --> 00:04:18,120 are just some headlines from a few 103 00:04:18,120 --> 00:04:22,320 select Publications about high search 104 00:04:22,320 --> 00:04:24,780 rates among women trans people and 105 00:04:24,780 --> 00:04:26,580 non-binary people so you'll see one over 106 00:04:26,580 --> 00:04:30,660 here about um birth club forums and that 107 00:04:30,660 --> 00:04:33,900 study digs into the high rates of use of 108 00:04:33,900 --> 00:04:36,360 birth forums online and the quality of 109 00:04:36,360 --> 00:04:38,580 information there there's a another 110 00:04:38,580 --> 00:04:40,740 study on the right about online 111 00:04:40,740 --> 00:04:42,840 transgender health information seeking 112 00:04:42,840 --> 00:04:44,759 which has been show shown to be high and 113 00:04:44,759 --> 00:04:49,139 then another one about turning to the 114 00:04:49,139 --> 00:04:52,860 internet for abortion access so there's 115 00:04:52,860 --> 00:04:54,600 a bunch of these again I'm not going to 116 00:04:54,600 --> 00:04:56,820 go into all of them but essentially we 117 00:04:56,820 --> 00:04:59,419 have really well documented literature 118 00:04:59,419 --> 00:05:03,780 explaining the phenomenon of high search 119 00:05:03,780 --> 00:05:07,680 rates among these demographics 120 00:05:07,680 --> 00:05:09,479 um this is these are just some visuals 121 00:05:09,479 --> 00:05:11,160 because I think it's very helpful to 122 00:05:11,160 --> 00:05:13,680 have visuals so for instance on the left 123 00:05:13,680 --> 00:05:16,560 this is from a survey of parent internet 124 00:05:16,560 --> 00:05:19,139 use to access information about 125 00:05:19,139 --> 00:05:21,479 Children's Healthcare and you can see 126 00:05:21,479 --> 00:05:22,860 that 127 00:05:22,860 --> 00:05:23,520 um 128 00:05:23,520 --> 00:05:27,900 80 of the sites first used to access 129 00:05:27,900 --> 00:05:29,820 health information were from public 130 00:05:29,820 --> 00:05:31,500 search engines and I think this came 131 00:05:31,500 --> 00:05:34,740 after I think something like 60 to 80 132 00:05:34,740 --> 00:05:36,479 percent of participants were using the 133 00:05:36,479 --> 00:05:37,919 internet in general 134 00:05:37,919 --> 00:05:40,979 um and then 80 were primarily it's 135 00:05:40,979 --> 00:05:43,440 pretty big jump there primarily using 136 00:05:43,440 --> 00:05:45,180 search engine so that just gives us a 137 00:05:45,180 --> 00:05:48,479 sense of what folks are actually using 138 00:05:48,479 --> 00:05:51,840 in online spaces to find health 139 00:05:51,840 --> 00:05:53,460 information it's not particularly 140 00:05:53,460 --> 00:05:56,160 promising but I also do it too I don't 141 00:05:56,160 --> 00:05:58,020 know anybody that doesn't 142 00:05:58,020 --> 00:06:01,199 um and then on the right is uh I'm a 143 00:06:01,199 --> 00:06:04,979 histogram showing search Trends 144 00:06:04,979 --> 00:06:06,199 um 145 00:06:06,199 --> 00:06:10,320 among actually I'm trying to think I 146 00:06:10,320 --> 00:06:11,699 remember who was among anyway yeah 147 00:06:11,699 --> 00:06:14,100 someone's showing search Trends I'll 148 00:06:14,100 --> 00:06:15,660 have to follow up the specific study to 149 00:06:15,660 --> 00:06:19,080 get the population but about the three 150 00:06:19,080 --> 00:06:20,639 different searches up on the right there 151 00:06:20,639 --> 00:06:21,780 in different colors so that's home 152 00:06:21,780 --> 00:06:24,479 abortion self-abortion and by abortion 153 00:06:24,479 --> 00:06:26,580 pill online 154 00:06:26,580 --> 00:06:30,000 um and you can see that the highest here 155 00:06:30,000 --> 00:06:32,160 is home abortion 156 00:06:32,160 --> 00:06:34,280 um which Peaks at 157 00:06:34,280 --> 00:06:36,600 64.1 percent 158 00:06:36,600 --> 00:06:37,860 um that's the average 159 00:06:37,860 --> 00:06:39,960 um like rate of searching on the 160 00:06:39,960 --> 00:06:42,539 platform and then the other two are 161 00:06:42,539 --> 00:06:43,860 around 162 00:06:43,860 --> 00:06:44,479 um 163 00:06:44,479 --> 00:06:47,699 9.6 on average and 7.8 on average but 164 00:06:47,699 --> 00:06:51,419 Peak around like 32.8 and 33.4 so just 165 00:06:51,419 --> 00:06:55,440 more confirmation empirically of high 166 00:06:55,440 --> 00:06:56,759 search rates 167 00:06:56,759 --> 00:06:58,560 for helpless information for health 168 00:06:58,560 --> 00:07:00,780 information rather than rather 169 00:07:00,780 --> 00:07:01,440 um 170 00:07:01,440 --> 00:07:04,139 okay but why is this a problem well 171 00:07:04,139 --> 00:07:06,479 according to Buffy because it's wrong 172 00:07:06,479 --> 00:07:08,819 not to search online but because 173 00:07:08,819 --> 00:07:11,460 there's a lot of bad information online 174 00:07:11,460 --> 00:07:13,199 um but we're gonna have to go beyond my 175 00:07:13,199 --> 00:07:16,139 Buffy means today to get a little deeper 176 00:07:16,139 --> 00:07:19,139 into the evidence so 177 00:07:19,139 --> 00:07:21,960 it's wrong not just because Buffy says 178 00:07:21,960 --> 00:07:24,000 so and I promise that's my last buff you 179 00:07:24,000 --> 00:07:26,479 mean but because the quality is low 180 00:07:26,479 --> 00:07:28,919 these are just a few examples from 181 00:07:28,919 --> 00:07:31,500 literature again that I pulled to 182 00:07:31,500 --> 00:07:33,599 demonstrate um 183 00:07:33,599 --> 00:07:36,000 the challenge of low quality content 184 00:07:36,000 --> 00:07:38,160 online so one study published in 2018 185 00:07:38,160 --> 00:07:41,039 found the 50 of Google web pages contain 186 00:07:41,039 --> 00:07:43,020 this info that actually hindered a 187 00:07:43,020 --> 00:07:45,180 person's decision to get an abortion 188 00:07:45,180 --> 00:07:47,039 that's pretty mind-boggling when you 189 00:07:47,039 --> 00:07:48,780 think about it another study found that 190 00:07:48,780 --> 00:07:50,699 out of the five top web page results 191 00:07:50,699 --> 00:07:52,500 when searching abortion pill on Google 192 00:07:52,500 --> 00:07:55,620 only one contained scientifically 193 00:07:55,620 --> 00:07:58,800 accurate and usable information 194 00:07:58,800 --> 00:08:01,740 a separate study found 195 00:08:01,740 --> 00:08:05,340 um on Google that results from searches 196 00:08:05,340 --> 00:08:07,199 about trans Health on the on the search 197 00:08:07,199 --> 00:08:08,759 engine 198 00:08:08,759 --> 00:08:10,440 um only brought up 199 00:08:10,440 --> 00:08:12,479 sites in which forty percent of them 200 00:08:12,479 --> 00:08:13,800 included accurate prescription 201 00:08:13,800 --> 00:08:17,580 information for hormones and then one 202 00:08:17,580 --> 00:08:20,639 2021 study analyze 29 mobile apps and 203 00:08:20,639 --> 00:08:22,580 found the only 204 00:08:22,580 --> 00:08:26,580 28 actually cited medical literature so 205 00:08:26,580 --> 00:08:30,300 again this is just a handful of studies 206 00:08:30,300 --> 00:08:30,960 um 207 00:08:30,960 --> 00:08:33,000 I have to say I've been looking for a 208 00:08:33,000 --> 00:08:36,719 long time at this literature and um this 209 00:08:36,719 --> 00:08:38,339 is very much how excuse it very much 210 00:08:38,339 --> 00:08:40,380 skews towards lower quality so this 211 00:08:40,380 --> 00:08:42,240 isn't a challenge of like imbalance 212 00:08:42,240 --> 00:08:43,919 right now or representation this is 213 00:08:43,919 --> 00:08:44,760 really 214 00:08:44,760 --> 00:08:46,800 um very much the picture 215 00:08:46,800 --> 00:08:49,260 okay so with that background in mind 216 00:08:49,260 --> 00:08:50,880 I'll head into the aims of what our 217 00:08:50,880 --> 00:08:53,580 project was trying to do and is trying 218 00:08:53,580 --> 00:08:55,560 to do 219 00:08:55,560 --> 00:08:58,080 so this is a report that we're working 220 00:08:58,080 --> 00:09:00,480 on it's not an academic publication it's 221 00:09:00,480 --> 00:09:02,820 a report in the form of a set of case 222 00:09:02,820 --> 00:09:06,000 studies on three different topics of 223 00:09:06,000 --> 00:09:08,820 gendered Health misinformation one is 224 00:09:08,820 --> 00:09:11,519 pregnancy and infant care the second is 225 00:09:11,519 --> 00:09:13,920 gender affirming care and the third is 226 00:09:13,920 --> 00:09:16,920 abortion so the first game is to 227 00:09:16,920 --> 00:09:19,080 consolidate literature and examples on 228 00:09:19,080 --> 00:09:20,700 specific topics of gendered Health 229 00:09:20,700 --> 00:09:22,860 misinformation online 230 00:09:22,860 --> 00:09:25,920 the second aim is to highlight the 231 00:09:25,920 --> 00:09:27,360 urgency of gendered Health 232 00:09:27,360 --> 00:09:29,399 misinformation online 233 00:09:29,399 --> 00:09:31,260 and then the third aim that should say 234 00:09:31,260 --> 00:09:33,120 three is to make clear the relevance of 235 00:09:33,120 --> 00:09:35,279 gendered Health misinformation online to 236 00:09:35,279 --> 00:09:38,760 a range of stakeholders including you so 237 00:09:38,760 --> 00:09:40,920 I'm so happy that you're hearing me 238 00:09:40,920 --> 00:09:43,080 speak 239 00:09:43,080 --> 00:09:44,160 um now I'm going to turn to our 240 00:09:44,160 --> 00:09:45,600 methodology to give you a better sense 241 00:09:45,600 --> 00:09:49,140 of how we actually did this so we first 242 00:09:49,140 --> 00:09:51,839 began with five topic areas that we 243 00:09:51,839 --> 00:09:56,100 selected based on one severity of the 244 00:09:56,100 --> 00:09:58,019 level of this information online based 245 00:09:58,019 --> 00:09:59,940 on our own expertise and the second was 246 00:09:59,940 --> 00:10:01,860 the potential for health risks and the 247 00:10:01,860 --> 00:10:05,220 third was cultural relevance 248 00:10:05,220 --> 00:10:07,980 um next we searched for misinformation 249 00:10:07,980 --> 00:10:10,800 related to those topics across Facebook 250 00:10:10,800 --> 00:10:13,440 Instagram Reddit Tech talk and Twitter 251 00:10:13,440 --> 00:10:15,899 using sets of live keyword lists that 252 00:10:15,899 --> 00:10:18,899 were updated over the research period 253 00:10:18,899 --> 00:10:20,820 um and then based on preliminary 254 00:10:20,820 --> 00:10:23,700 findings we narrowed the case study list 255 00:10:23,700 --> 00:10:27,060 down to three 256 00:10:27,060 --> 00:10:27,839 um 257 00:10:27,839 --> 00:10:30,540 to sorry where am I yeah to three topics 258 00:10:30,540 --> 00:10:32,220 as you can see in point three there that 259 00:10:32,220 --> 00:10:34,019 captured a range of gendered Health 260 00:10:34,019 --> 00:10:36,360 misinformation topics and had strong 261 00:10:36,360 --> 00:10:39,060 scientific bases and this allowed us to 262 00:10:39,060 --> 00:10:41,279 carry out deeper Dives which was the 263 00:10:41,279 --> 00:10:43,800 goal number four step four after 264 00:10:43,800 --> 00:10:46,260 solidifying the topics those three 265 00:10:46,260 --> 00:10:48,779 topics we divided each case into three 266 00:10:48,779 --> 00:10:50,640 subtopics so it's a little bit of like 267 00:10:50,640 --> 00:10:53,100 topic Inception 268 00:10:53,100 --> 00:10:55,260 um and then we sourced four to eight 269 00:10:55,260 --> 00:10:57,779 examples of misinformation on each of 270 00:10:57,779 --> 00:11:01,440 those subtopics finally we wrote first 271 00:11:01,440 --> 00:11:04,079 the background for each topic including 272 00:11:04,079 --> 00:11:06,000 information about online search patterns 273 00:11:06,000 --> 00:11:08,519 about the topic common misinfo threads 274 00:11:08,519 --> 00:11:10,500 in the health health impacts of this 275 00:11:10,500 --> 00:11:14,220 information and then secondly we wrote 276 00:11:14,220 --> 00:11:16,620 the scientific explanation of why the 277 00:11:16,620 --> 00:11:18,540 examples presented are false and 278 00:11:18,540 --> 00:11:20,160 misleading 279 00:11:20,160 --> 00:11:24,000 Okay so you know maybe maybe the methods 280 00:11:24,000 --> 00:11:25,320 weren't so simple in the end even though 281 00:11:25,320 --> 00:11:26,640 I said we'd go through them quickly but 282 00:11:26,640 --> 00:11:28,440 hopefully you followed along this is the 283 00:11:28,440 --> 00:11:30,720 fun part findings 284 00:11:30,720 --> 00:11:32,279 um so again just keep in mind this this 285 00:11:32,279 --> 00:11:34,260 was not an academic study this is based 286 00:11:34,260 --> 00:11:35,459 on 287 00:11:35,459 --> 00:11:37,440 um the goal of wanting to dive deeper 288 00:11:37,440 --> 00:11:39,660 into these topics and to get a sense of 289 00:11:39,660 --> 00:11:41,760 what kinds of Trends are searching using 290 00:11:41,760 --> 00:11:44,160 mixed methods and also more of a 291 00:11:44,160 --> 00:11:45,720 qualitative approach 292 00:11:45,720 --> 00:11:47,399 so 293 00:11:47,399 --> 00:11:51,240 first is pregnancy and infant care and 294 00:11:51,240 --> 00:11:53,399 we divided 295 00:11:53,399 --> 00:11:54,000 um 296 00:11:54,000 --> 00:11:56,339 that topic as I mentioned into three 297 00:11:56,339 --> 00:11:58,980 subtopics which were one prenatal Health 298 00:11:58,980 --> 00:12:01,260 two labor and delivery and three 299 00:12:01,260 --> 00:12:04,320 postpartum and infant health 300 00:12:04,320 --> 00:12:06,540 this is the tldr 301 00:12:06,540 --> 00:12:09,360 um because I only have 25 minutes or so 302 00:12:09,360 --> 00:12:11,700 and I'm already about halfway through it 303 00:12:11,700 --> 00:12:15,120 I'm gonna try and keep it short 304 00:12:15,120 --> 00:12:17,940 um but this is really the Crux of what 305 00:12:17,940 --> 00:12:20,160 you should come away with for this topic 306 00:12:20,160 --> 00:12:22,440 so the first is that most information 307 00:12:22,440 --> 00:12:25,200 about pregnancy and infant care online 308 00:12:25,200 --> 00:12:28,440 is low quality but most people consuming 309 00:12:28,440 --> 00:12:31,320 the information don't realize this as 310 00:12:31,320 --> 00:12:33,600 it's presented as objective so it's 311 00:12:33,600 --> 00:12:35,399 deceiving sometimes intentionally 312 00:12:35,399 --> 00:12:38,519 sometimes unintentionally the second is 313 00:12:38,519 --> 00:12:40,440 that online users often receive the 314 00:12:40,440 --> 00:12:42,540 majority of the blame for pregnancy and 315 00:12:42,540 --> 00:12:44,519 infant care misinformation which we saw 316 00:12:44,519 --> 00:12:47,399 online on search engine sorry on search 317 00:12:47,399 --> 00:12:49,260 platforms and search engines themselves 318 00:12:49,260 --> 00:12:51,800 in the media and also in the literature 319 00:12:51,800 --> 00:12:55,500 however the problem as we understand it 320 00:12:55,500 --> 00:12:57,839 really stems from the top with social 321 00:12:57,839 --> 00:12:59,700 media companies who aren't moderating 322 00:12:59,700 --> 00:13:00,980 gendered Health misinformation 323 00:13:00,980 --> 00:13:03,540 effectively and with the help of public 324 00:13:03,540 --> 00:13:05,820 health professionals girls who are not 325 00:13:05,820 --> 00:13:08,880 communicating accessibly so that's a 326 00:13:08,880 --> 00:13:12,779 call into my Public Health Community 327 00:13:12,779 --> 00:13:15,360 um the third is the advertisements that 328 00:13:15,360 --> 00:13:17,519 show up on pregnancy apps search engines 329 00:13:17,519 --> 00:13:19,560 and social media platforms can be really 330 00:13:19,560 --> 00:13:21,120 difficult to differentiate from 331 00:13:21,120 --> 00:13:23,820 objective information that's not being 332 00:13:23,820 --> 00:13:25,920 presented for profit 333 00:13:25,920 --> 00:13:28,980 and then lastly there is a difference 334 00:13:28,980 --> 00:13:31,980 between misinformation and shaming but 335 00:13:31,980 --> 00:13:35,220 the two can very much overlap so those 336 00:13:35,220 --> 00:13:39,420 are the tldrs on pregnancy and infant 337 00:13:39,420 --> 00:13:41,220 care and now we're going to go into some 338 00:13:41,220 --> 00:13:43,260 of the common narratives so for prenatal 339 00:13:43,260 --> 00:13:46,440 care we focused on supplements 340 00:13:46,440 --> 00:13:48,360 um and specifically folic acid and these 341 00:13:48,360 --> 00:13:50,279 were some of the common narratives that 342 00:13:50,279 --> 00:13:54,240 I came across uh folic acid is toxic and 343 00:13:54,240 --> 00:13:56,820 bad for you that was a big one folic 344 00:13:56,820 --> 00:13:59,940 acid is bad for babies and causes asthma 345 00:13:59,940 --> 00:14:03,000 another really common narrative 346 00:14:03,000 --> 00:14:05,339 um also you need methylated folate for 347 00:14:05,339 --> 00:14:07,440 pregnancy instead of folic acid and if 348 00:14:07,440 --> 00:14:09,660 you are listening to me going what the 349 00:14:09,660 --> 00:14:11,880 hell are you talking about that's fine 350 00:14:11,880 --> 00:14:13,920 because this is a very Niche topic and 351 00:14:13,920 --> 00:14:15,180 that was one of the goals of this 352 00:14:15,180 --> 00:14:18,240 exercise was to find these Health topics 353 00:14:18,240 --> 00:14:19,800 that had a lot of misinformation 354 00:14:19,800 --> 00:14:22,200 surrounding it in ways that people 355 00:14:22,200 --> 00:14:23,760 aren't really registering and 356 00:14:23,760 --> 00:14:26,040 researching at a high level to get a 357 00:14:26,040 --> 00:14:27,660 better sense of what's out there and 358 00:14:27,660 --> 00:14:29,760 what's actually pulling people into the 359 00:14:29,760 --> 00:14:32,459 world of medical misinformation or 360 00:14:32,459 --> 00:14:35,459 hesitancy or misunderstanding 361 00:14:35,459 --> 00:14:38,519 um for bettering content moderation and 362 00:14:38,519 --> 00:14:40,279 also bettering research and intervention 363 00:14:40,279 --> 00:14:43,560 efforts so now I will 364 00:14:43,560 --> 00:14:45,360 um go through these other common 365 00:14:45,360 --> 00:14:47,399 narratives and circle back to folic acid 366 00:14:47,399 --> 00:14:50,160 to give a little more uh explanation so 367 00:14:50,160 --> 00:14:51,660 these are the common narratives for our 368 00:14:51,660 --> 00:14:55,019 labor and delivery section which I 369 00:14:55,019 --> 00:14:57,540 focused on C-sections some of those 370 00:14:57,540 --> 00:14:59,940 misinformation narratives included only 371 00:14:59,940 --> 00:15:02,399 rich people have C-sections you can't 372 00:15:02,399 --> 00:15:03,959 have a vaginal birth after a previous 373 00:15:03,959 --> 00:15:06,600 C-section false and C-sections are 374 00:15:06,600 --> 00:15:10,019 necessary and shameful also false 375 00:15:10,019 --> 00:15:12,540 and then our postpartum and infant 376 00:15:12,540 --> 00:15:14,579 health section was focused on 377 00:15:14,579 --> 00:15:16,680 breastfeeding and some of the common 378 00:15:16,680 --> 00:15:19,800 narratives included it's better to make 379 00:15:19,800 --> 00:15:22,320 your own formula very false formula 380 00:15:22,320 --> 00:15:25,320 feeding is carcinogenic nope and baby 381 00:15:25,320 --> 00:15:27,180 formula is not tested for instant 382 00:15:27,180 --> 00:15:29,760 infants and isn't safe for infants also 383 00:15:29,760 --> 00:15:31,620 not true I'm sure many of you were 384 00:15:31,620 --> 00:15:33,000 formula fed I definitely had some 385 00:15:33,000 --> 00:15:35,360 formula feeding too 386 00:15:35,360 --> 00:15:39,779 so I'm going to gloss over those last 387 00:15:39,779 --> 00:15:41,699 two sections that I mentioned just 388 00:15:41,699 --> 00:15:43,620 because it's a lot of content and I want 389 00:15:43,620 --> 00:15:45,540 to get through as much as possible and 390 00:15:45,540 --> 00:15:48,000 I'm just going to narrow in on this 391 00:15:48,000 --> 00:15:50,040 folic acid topic 392 00:15:50,040 --> 00:15:51,660 um also because it was probably the most 393 00:15:51,660 --> 00:15:53,880 confusing and you're like let's go back 394 00:15:53,880 --> 00:15:56,160 to that and figure out what that is no 395 00:15:56,160 --> 00:15:59,160 worries so Foley is a general term used 396 00:15:59,160 --> 00:16:01,380 to describe many different forms of 397 00:16:01,380 --> 00:16:04,620 vitamin B9 it's found naturally in foods 398 00:16:04,620 --> 00:16:07,260 like leafy greens and like beans you're 399 00:16:07,260 --> 00:16:09,420 probably eating it all the time and not 400 00:16:09,420 --> 00:16:11,579 necessarily realizing it unless maybe 401 00:16:11,579 --> 00:16:14,040 you are a doctor or a public health 402 00:16:14,040 --> 00:16:17,760 researcher folic acid is a synthetic 403 00:16:17,760 --> 00:16:20,339 form of folate so it's not what you're 404 00:16:20,339 --> 00:16:23,579 going to find in Your Greens essentially 405 00:16:23,579 --> 00:16:25,680 um and folic acid intake during 406 00:16:25,680 --> 00:16:28,260 pregnancy significantly decreases the 407 00:16:28,260 --> 00:16:30,180 risk of having a baby with birth defects 408 00:16:30,180 --> 00:16:32,820 of the brain the spine or the spinal 409 00:16:32,820 --> 00:16:33,800 cord 410 00:16:33,800 --> 00:16:36,540 and we took typically refer to these as 411 00:16:36,540 --> 00:16:40,680 neural tube defects or nteds and folic 412 00:16:40,680 --> 00:16:42,899 acid is actually the only type of folate 413 00:16:42,899 --> 00:16:44,459 that has been shown in studies to help 414 00:16:44,459 --> 00:16:46,740 prevent birth defects such as spin of 415 00:16:46,740 --> 00:16:49,620 the spine of the Spina Bifida wow 416 00:16:49,620 --> 00:16:51,839 haven't said that one out loud in a long 417 00:16:51,839 --> 00:16:52,800 time 418 00:16:52,800 --> 00:16:55,139 um so as you can see folic acid is 419 00:16:55,139 --> 00:16:57,779 really important it's been fortified in 420 00:16:57,779 --> 00:16:59,519 our Foods our foods are fortified with 421 00:16:59,519 --> 00:17:01,079 folic acid to make sure that folks get 422 00:17:01,079 --> 00:17:04,679 enough of it a lot of people are folic 423 00:17:04,679 --> 00:17:07,439 acid deficient in the U.S including 424 00:17:07,439 --> 00:17:09,839 people of reproductive age who are able 425 00:17:09,839 --> 00:17:12,000 to get pregnant so this is a big issue 426 00:17:12,000 --> 00:17:13,559 and yet 427 00:17:13,559 --> 00:17:17,040 there is a ton of misinformation around 428 00:17:17,040 --> 00:17:20,459 folic acid online which is so wild and 429 00:17:20,459 --> 00:17:21,780 so mind-blowing 430 00:17:21,780 --> 00:17:24,359 um and is a really pervasive problem 431 00:17:24,359 --> 00:17:27,119 that is negatively or at least likely 432 00:17:27,119 --> 00:17:29,640 negatively impacting folks who are 433 00:17:29,640 --> 00:17:31,679 pregnant or looking to get pregnant so 434 00:17:31,679 --> 00:17:33,720 these are just a few examples someone 435 00:17:33,720 --> 00:17:36,059 asks are prenatal vitamins okay because 436 00:17:36,059 --> 00:17:40,140 there's folic in them in this uh Dr 437 00:17:40,140 --> 00:17:43,679 Janine says not in my opinion 438 00:17:43,679 --> 00:17:45,840 um 439 00:17:45,840 --> 00:17:49,020 another example says 440 00:17:49,020 --> 00:17:50,640 um 441 00:17:50,640 --> 00:17:52,260 well you can't watch the video but 442 00:17:52,260 --> 00:17:53,760 essentially she's saying folic acid is 443 00:17:53,760 --> 00:17:55,080 not what you think you should avoid 444 00:17:55,080 --> 00:17:56,580 folic acid and look for methylated 445 00:17:56,580 --> 00:17:59,760 folate methyl folate or folenic acid 446 00:17:59,760 --> 00:18:01,980 calcium folate 447 00:18:01,980 --> 00:18:05,100 um also not good this is not good 448 00:18:05,100 --> 00:18:06,539 um and then the one on the far right is 449 00:18:06,539 --> 00:18:08,400 very similar folic acid is bad for you 450 00:18:08,400 --> 00:18:10,500 methylfolate is the way to go take a 451 00:18:10,500 --> 00:18:11,580 listen 452 00:18:11,580 --> 00:18:13,919 um so all of these maybe seem innocuous 453 00:18:13,919 --> 00:18:16,919 but they're actually creating uh 454 00:18:16,919 --> 00:18:19,200 a coordinated 455 00:18:19,200 --> 00:18:22,140 and pervasive narrative about the harms 456 00:18:22,140 --> 00:18:25,440 of folic acid online that have the 457 00:18:25,440 --> 00:18:26,880 potential to actually lead to health 458 00:18:26,880 --> 00:18:28,679 outcomes because behavioral research 459 00:18:28,679 --> 00:18:32,520 shows that information online can impact 460 00:18:32,520 --> 00:18:35,039 Behavior including when it comes to 461 00:18:35,039 --> 00:18:38,160 health so this is one of the significant 462 00:18:38,160 --> 00:18:39,840 narratives and significant challenges 463 00:18:39,840 --> 00:18:41,880 that I found when conducting This 464 00:18:41,880 --> 00:18:43,860 research and which I find extremely 465 00:18:43,860 --> 00:18:46,860 concerning and if you are a parent out 466 00:18:46,860 --> 00:18:49,559 there who gave birth then 467 00:18:49,559 --> 00:18:51,720 hopefully you have an idea of how 468 00:18:51,720 --> 00:18:54,660 potentially dangerous this is 469 00:18:54,660 --> 00:18:56,700 okay so next we're going to go to gender 470 00:18:56,700 --> 00:18:59,640 affirming care and our three subtopic 471 00:18:59,640 --> 00:19:02,280 areas here were gender affirming hormone 472 00:19:02,280 --> 00:19:04,919 therapy puberty blockers and gender 473 00:19:04,919 --> 00:19:07,620 dysphoria let's get into it 474 00:19:07,620 --> 00:19:10,080 so again tldr 475 00:19:10,080 --> 00:19:12,299 gender affirming care has been shown to 476 00:19:12,299 --> 00:19:14,400 reduce the risk of depression 477 00:19:14,400 --> 00:19:17,100 lower the risk of suicidal ideation and 478 00:19:17,100 --> 00:19:19,799 suicide attempts lower rates of smoking 479 00:19:19,799 --> 00:19:23,640 and improve overall mental health and as 480 00:19:23,640 --> 00:19:26,100 background gender affirming care is a 481 00:19:26,100 --> 00:19:29,820 type of care that individuals use to 482 00:19:29,820 --> 00:19:31,620 align themselves align their physical 483 00:19:31,620 --> 00:19:34,320 bodies with their gender identity this 484 00:19:34,320 --> 00:19:38,039 could be in the way someone dresses this 485 00:19:38,039 --> 00:19:40,140 could be through speech therapy this 486 00:19:40,140 --> 00:19:42,419 could be through hormones or this could 487 00:19:42,419 --> 00:19:45,900 be through surgery among other a mother 488 00:19:45,900 --> 00:19:48,360 among other care possibilities like talk 489 00:19:48,360 --> 00:19:50,220 therapy 490 00:19:50,220 --> 00:19:52,799 um mistreatment of trans and non-binary 491 00:19:52,799 --> 00:19:55,080 people in the medical system deep-seated 492 00:19:55,080 --> 00:19:57,480 Health disparities pervasive transphobia 493 00:19:57,480 --> 00:20:00,000 cultural cisgenderism and the clear 494 00:20:00,000 --> 00:20:02,220 benefits of gender affirming care all 495 00:20:02,220 --> 00:20:03,000 make 496 00:20:03,000 --> 00:20:05,100 searching the internet for information 497 00:20:05,100 --> 00:20:08,039 about trans health and gender affirming 498 00:20:08,039 --> 00:20:10,440 care in particular more common 499 00:20:10,440 --> 00:20:12,600 and then also gender affirming care 500 00:20:12,600 --> 00:20:15,000 misinformation can stem first from 501 00:20:15,000 --> 00:20:16,440 malicious attempts to spread 502 00:20:16,440 --> 00:20:18,000 disinformation 503 00:20:18,000 --> 00:20:20,039 especially transphobic disinformation 504 00:20:20,039 --> 00:20:22,799 which helps to normalize myths that then 505 00:20:22,799 --> 00:20:24,960 circulate as misinformation 506 00:20:24,960 --> 00:20:26,820 so we really noticed a strong connection 507 00:20:26,820 --> 00:20:29,820 between the dis and this info here 508 00:20:29,820 --> 00:20:33,480 are the common narratives for gender 509 00:20:33,480 --> 00:20:35,880 forming home hormone therapy we focused 510 00:20:35,880 --> 00:20:38,039 on masculinizing hormone therapy these 511 00:20:38,039 --> 00:20:39,840 are some of the common narratives one is 512 00:20:39,840 --> 00:20:41,520 that testosterone makes you aggressive 513 00:20:41,520 --> 00:20:44,340 not true is a blanket statement another 514 00:20:44,340 --> 00:20:45,900 is that all changes that come from 515 00:20:45,900 --> 00:20:47,580 masculinizing hormone therapy are 516 00:20:47,580 --> 00:20:49,740 permanent or will have permanent 517 00:20:49,740 --> 00:20:51,419 negative changes like early onset 518 00:20:51,419 --> 00:20:54,380 menopause not true 519 00:20:54,600 --> 00:20:56,520 um these are some common narratives 520 00:20:56,520 --> 00:20:58,320 about puberty blockers which is our 521 00:20:58,320 --> 00:20:59,760 second topic this is also going to be 522 00:20:59,760 --> 00:21:01,500 the one I focus on so we'll come back to 523 00:21:01,500 --> 00:21:03,960 this but first I'll just read these one 524 00:21:03,960 --> 00:21:06,120 is that the health impacts of puberty 525 00:21:06,120 --> 00:21:08,760 blockers are dangerous not true as a 526 00:21:08,760 --> 00:21:10,919 blanket statement the changes brought on 527 00:21:10,919 --> 00:21:13,679 by puberty blockers are irreversible not 528 00:21:13,679 --> 00:21:16,380 true and children will likely grow out 529 00:21:16,380 --> 00:21:18,480 of this phase making puberty blockers 530 00:21:18,480 --> 00:21:22,500 irresponsible not backed by science 531 00:21:22,500 --> 00:21:24,840 we'll come back to that but last I just 532 00:21:24,840 --> 00:21:26,039 want to share the common narratives 533 00:21:26,039 --> 00:21:28,559 around gender dysphoria one is that 534 00:21:28,559 --> 00:21:30,419 gender dysphoria is a part of puberty 535 00:21:30,419 --> 00:21:31,860 that kids will naturally move on from 536 00:21:31,860 --> 00:21:34,260 very similar to the last one I read not 537 00:21:34,260 --> 00:21:36,720 evidenced by science uh a second is that 538 00:21:36,720 --> 00:21:38,340 gender dysphoria is linked to autism 539 00:21:38,340 --> 00:21:40,380 spectrum disorder in girls who then go 540 00:21:40,380 --> 00:21:42,600 on to detransition there's a lot in this 541 00:21:42,600 --> 00:21:43,799 claim 542 00:21:43,799 --> 00:21:46,020 um but essentially science does not back 543 00:21:46,020 --> 00:21:48,120 up this link especially as it's worded 544 00:21:48,120 --> 00:21:49,559 here and especially as it's spread 545 00:21:49,559 --> 00:21:51,539 online and then the third is that gender 546 00:21:51,539 --> 00:21:53,760 dysphoria is really a different mental 547 00:21:53,760 --> 00:21:55,260 health problem like for instance 548 00:21:55,260 --> 00:21:57,780 borderline personality disorder bipolar 549 00:21:57,780 --> 00:21:59,580 disorder that's all that comes up a lot 550 00:21:59,580 --> 00:22:00,539 too 551 00:22:00,539 --> 00:22:02,520 so all of these are really really really 552 00:22:02,520 --> 00:22:05,700 problematic and I have to say that this 553 00:22:05,700 --> 00:22:07,919 topic gender affirming care was 554 00:22:07,919 --> 00:22:11,280 absolutely the hardest one for me to 555 00:22:11,280 --> 00:22:13,740 conduct research on I felt pretty good 556 00:22:13,740 --> 00:22:16,020 about the other ones but I I felt a lot 557 00:22:16,020 --> 00:22:17,880 of secondary trauma researching this 558 00:22:17,880 --> 00:22:19,559 topic because 559 00:22:19,559 --> 00:22:22,679 on the one side I was seeing a bunch of 560 00:22:22,679 --> 00:22:24,840 really angry mostly adults being 561 00:22:24,840 --> 00:22:28,919 extraordinarily transphobic online and 562 00:22:28,919 --> 00:22:31,260 then on the other hand I was seeing a 563 00:22:31,260 --> 00:22:33,539 lot of trans teens 564 00:22:33,539 --> 00:22:35,520 also online 565 00:22:35,520 --> 00:22:37,679 um really struggling and expressing a 566 00:22:37,679 --> 00:22:39,960 lot of um challenges with their mental 567 00:22:39,960 --> 00:22:41,940 health with their bodies with dysphoria 568 00:22:41,940 --> 00:22:44,700 and it was extremely devastating and 569 00:22:44,700 --> 00:22:46,919 gave me a glimpse into the kinds of 570 00:22:46,919 --> 00:22:49,260 adverse Health outcomes both physical 571 00:22:49,260 --> 00:22:53,159 and mental that are possibly stemming 572 00:22:53,159 --> 00:22:56,460 from these misinformation Threads Online 573 00:22:56,460 --> 00:22:57,960 so with that we're going to dive into 574 00:22:57,960 --> 00:23:01,260 puberty blockers as our case example 575 00:23:01,260 --> 00:23:03,299 um puberty blockers just by way of 576 00:23:03,299 --> 00:23:05,220 background are a class of drugs that 577 00:23:05,220 --> 00:23:07,440 suppress sex hormones like estrogen and 578 00:23:07,440 --> 00:23:09,179 testosterone and stock changes from 579 00:23:09,179 --> 00:23:11,640 puberty they also work to treat other 580 00:23:11,640 --> 00:23:13,679 conditions like prostate cancer uterine 581 00:23:13,679 --> 00:23:16,919 fibroids menopause this is very notable 582 00:23:16,919 --> 00:23:18,059 because 583 00:23:18,059 --> 00:23:20,039 hormone replacement therapy was actually 584 00:23:20,039 --> 00:23:23,700 developed for CIS folks so something to 585 00:23:23,700 --> 00:23:24,780 keep in mind 586 00:23:24,780 --> 00:23:26,760 um puberty blockers have been used for a 587 00:23:26,760 --> 00:23:28,559 range of conditions for a number of 588 00:23:28,559 --> 00:23:30,480 decades so we have a very decent 589 00:23:30,480 --> 00:23:32,039 Baseline understanding of safety and 590 00:23:32,039 --> 00:23:33,840 efficacy 591 00:23:33,840 --> 00:23:35,820 um there are a few minor side effects of 592 00:23:35,820 --> 00:23:37,620 puberty blockers like headache and 593 00:23:37,620 --> 00:23:40,500 weight change as well as a few less 594 00:23:40,500 --> 00:23:42,299 common more severe side effects that are 595 00:23:42,299 --> 00:23:44,220 still being researched but believed 596 00:23:44,220 --> 00:23:45,900 right now to be short-term so the big 597 00:23:45,900 --> 00:23:48,600 one here is bone density loss research 598 00:23:48,600 --> 00:23:50,460 shows that puberty blockers can lead to 599 00:23:50,460 --> 00:23:52,559 significant mental health benefits in 600 00:23:52,559 --> 00:23:54,900 transgender Youth and all major medical 601 00:23:54,900 --> 00:23:57,360 associations in the US oppose Banning 602 00:23:57,360 --> 00:23:59,640 puberty blockers so that's what we need 603 00:23:59,640 --> 00:24:01,039 to know about puberty blockers 604 00:24:01,039 --> 00:24:04,200 essentially they're really good for 605 00:24:04,200 --> 00:24:07,020 folks who are questioning their gender 606 00:24:07,020 --> 00:24:09,720 identity as kids and aren't known to 607 00:24:09,720 --> 00:24:13,080 have long-term Health farms and yet 608 00:24:13,080 --> 00:24:16,140 there is an unbelievable amount of 609 00:24:16,140 --> 00:24:18,240 puberty blocker misinformation online 610 00:24:18,240 --> 00:24:21,600 across platforms here's a few of them 611 00:24:21,600 --> 00:24:22,380 um 612 00:24:22,380 --> 00:24:24,360 I won't read them all in depth partly 613 00:24:24,360 --> 00:24:25,679 because they're very upsetting partly 614 00:24:25,679 --> 00:24:27,240 because it would take me a long time but 615 00:24:27,240 --> 00:24:29,940 for instance Marcy Bowers admitted most 616 00:24:29,940 --> 00:24:33,059 blocked kids will never 617 00:24:33,059 --> 00:24:35,820 well never zero oh we'll never have any 618 00:24:35,820 --> 00:24:37,980 sexual sensation at all some even lose 619 00:24:37,980 --> 00:24:41,700 urinary sensation presumably if you 620 00:24:41,700 --> 00:24:43,320 choose to change your gender find by me 621 00:24:43,320 --> 00:24:45,059 but stop trying to groom kids stop 622 00:24:45,059 --> 00:24:46,919 saying it's okay to use puberty blockers 623 00:24:46,919 --> 00:24:48,659 let a kid grow before they ruin their 624 00:24:48,659 --> 00:24:52,440 bodies permanently leave kids alone 625 00:24:52,440 --> 00:24:54,539 this one says to stop using New Age 626 00:24:54,539 --> 00:24:57,120 gender studies which is absolutely not a 627 00:24:57,120 --> 00:24:59,520 science to justify irreversible gender 628 00:24:59,520 --> 00:25:02,400 transitions for teenagers 629 00:25:02,400 --> 00:25:05,820 this is not normal science etc etc and 630 00:25:05,820 --> 00:25:07,679 it really goes on from there and you can 631 00:25:07,679 --> 00:25:08,880 start to see how they miss and 632 00:25:08,880 --> 00:25:10,620 disinformation are are very much 633 00:25:10,620 --> 00:25:12,600 overlapping here and informing one 634 00:25:12,600 --> 00:25:13,380 another 635 00:25:13,380 --> 00:25:16,380 um this is extremely upsetting because 636 00:25:16,380 --> 00:25:20,100 not only is this type of rhetoric really 637 00:25:20,100 --> 00:25:23,039 harmful for the cultural narrative in 638 00:25:23,039 --> 00:25:24,539 general and societal narratives about 639 00:25:24,539 --> 00:25:27,080 puberty blockers as well as individual 640 00:25:27,080 --> 00:25:30,000 youth who are considering using puberty 641 00:25:30,000 --> 00:25:31,980 blockers are on puberty blockers have 642 00:25:31,980 --> 00:25:33,960 friends on puberty blockers because it's 643 00:25:33,960 --> 00:25:36,539 so stigmatizing and shaming to hear this 644 00:25:36,539 --> 00:25:38,240 type of language but it could also lead 645 00:25:38,240 --> 00:25:41,940 to somebody not seeking this type of 646 00:25:41,940 --> 00:25:44,460 care if it's needed which could yield 647 00:25:44,460 --> 00:25:46,440 adverse Health outcomes and it's also 648 00:25:46,440 --> 00:25:47,880 the same type of rhetoric that we're 649 00:25:47,880 --> 00:25:49,380 seeing in a bunch of anti-trans 650 00:25:49,380 --> 00:25:52,679 legislation especially around the US 651 00:25:52,679 --> 00:25:56,940 um so there's really really significant 652 00:25:56,940 --> 00:26:00,000 potential harms to health here 653 00:26:00,000 --> 00:26:02,340 um but platforms need to be held viable 654 00:26:02,340 --> 00:26:05,400 for and take very seriously 655 00:26:05,400 --> 00:26:09,539 okay and then lastly is abortion 656 00:26:09,539 --> 00:26:11,159 um which I'm sure you've all been 657 00:26:11,159 --> 00:26:13,260 thinking about in some way or another 658 00:26:13,260 --> 00:26:15,360 from the three subtopics we broke these 659 00:26:15,360 --> 00:26:18,360 this topic into is abortion procedures 660 00:26:18,360 --> 00:26:22,220 abortion risks and abortion stigma 661 00:26:22,220 --> 00:26:26,100 so again you've probably caught on to my 662 00:26:26,100 --> 00:26:28,620 my little flow here the tldr is first 663 00:26:28,620 --> 00:26:30,900 when abortion is prohibited or 664 00:26:30,900 --> 00:26:32,940 restricted research shows that 665 00:26:32,940 --> 00:26:35,159 information searching online increases 666 00:26:35,159 --> 00:26:37,919 so we've seen that a lot in the past 667 00:26:37,919 --> 00:26:40,140 months with the leak first and then the 668 00:26:40,140 --> 00:26:41,880 Dobbs decision itself and there's data 669 00:26:41,880 --> 00:26:43,620 to back that up 670 00:26:43,620 --> 00:26:45,299 um much of the content that individuals 671 00:26:45,299 --> 00:26:48,240 find online about abortion is actually 672 00:26:48,240 --> 00:26:51,000 not reliable 673 00:26:51,000 --> 00:26:53,279 um there is really good evidence that 674 00:26:53,279 --> 00:26:54,299 shows 675 00:26:54,299 --> 00:26:56,760 um not only social media posts but also 676 00:26:56,760 --> 00:26:59,220 ads and search engine results are really 677 00:26:59,220 --> 00:27:02,820 Rife with abortion misinformation often 678 00:27:02,820 --> 00:27:05,400 backed by anti-abortion groups who are 679 00:27:05,400 --> 00:27:07,740 also funding anti-abortion political 680 00:27:07,740 --> 00:27:09,960 figures 681 00:27:09,960 --> 00:27:11,880 um a third finding is that getting 682 00:27:11,880 --> 00:27:14,220 quality abortion and pro online is most 683 00:27:14,220 --> 00:27:15,779 important for individuals already 684 00:27:15,779 --> 00:27:17,279 marginalized when it comes to their 685 00:27:17,279 --> 00:27:19,679 reproduction this isn't necessarily a 686 00:27:19,679 --> 00:27:22,440 new or surprising finding but was backed 687 00:27:22,440 --> 00:27:24,659 up when we looked into the data that 688 00:27:24,659 --> 00:27:27,120 showed how folks from marginalized 689 00:27:27,120 --> 00:27:29,100 states and countries are the ones who 690 00:27:29,100 --> 00:27:31,380 are most likely to be searching for this 691 00:27:31,380 --> 00:27:34,500 type of health information and who might 692 00:27:34,500 --> 00:27:36,539 not have anywhere else to get it so by 693 00:27:36,539 --> 00:27:38,940 actually confirming who the folks were 694 00:27:38,940 --> 00:27:40,559 who are most likely to be searching for 695 00:27:40,559 --> 00:27:42,900 this information online 696 00:27:42,900 --> 00:27:45,840 um as well as seeing all of the threads 697 00:27:45,840 --> 00:27:47,720 of misinformation about abortion 698 00:27:47,720 --> 00:27:51,299 circulating online it really highlighted 699 00:27:51,299 --> 00:27:53,520 for us how significant this need is for 700 00:27:53,520 --> 00:27:56,520 folks who are already marginalized 701 00:27:56,520 --> 00:27:58,500 um and then finally inaccurate 702 00:27:58,500 --> 00:28:00,779 information narratives 703 00:28:00,779 --> 00:28:03,059 um about abortion can actually affect 704 00:28:03,059 --> 00:28:04,559 someone's ability to make a decision 705 00:28:04,559 --> 00:28:07,020 about abortion so if somebody for 706 00:28:07,020 --> 00:28:08,580 instance is redirected to a Crisis 707 00:28:08,580 --> 00:28:10,200 Pregnancy Center site and doesn't 708 00:28:10,200 --> 00:28:12,419 realize it this has happened to me I 709 00:28:12,419 --> 00:28:16,740 spent a lot of my days like rummaging 710 00:28:16,740 --> 00:28:18,720 around Crisis Pregnancy Center sites 711 00:28:18,720 --> 00:28:20,159 checking out the narratives that they're 712 00:28:20,159 --> 00:28:21,960 using seeing what tactics they're 713 00:28:21,960 --> 00:28:25,140 they're employing and recently I was on 714 00:28:25,140 --> 00:28:26,279 one that 715 00:28:26,279 --> 00:28:28,620 was so well 716 00:28:28,620 --> 00:28:31,380 um that was so well veiled as an 717 00:28:31,380 --> 00:28:32,820 objective site but it took me about 718 00:28:32,820 --> 00:28:34,440 three minutes three to five minutes to 719 00:28:34,440 --> 00:28:36,240 realize that it was actually 720 00:28:36,240 --> 00:28:37,980 um a biased and political Crisis 721 00:28:37,980 --> 00:28:41,460 Pregnancy Center and uh if somebody came 722 00:28:41,460 --> 00:28:43,200 across that if I was looking to seek an 723 00:28:43,200 --> 00:28:44,640 abortion for instance I might have made 724 00:28:44,640 --> 00:28:47,880 an appointment gone in and then you know 725 00:28:47,880 --> 00:28:49,380 especially if I was in a state with a 726 00:28:49,380 --> 00:28:50,940 restricted abortion access it would have 727 00:28:50,940 --> 00:28:53,039 taken me maybe one week maybe two weeks 728 00:28:53,039 --> 00:28:54,779 longer to get an abortion maybe I would 729 00:28:54,779 --> 00:28:56,400 have felt a lot of Shame and guilt after 730 00:28:56,400 --> 00:28:58,620 going there and waited even longer to 731 00:28:58,620 --> 00:29:00,360 get an abortion or not gotten one at all 732 00:29:00,360 --> 00:29:03,659 and Andor had uh 733 00:29:03,659 --> 00:29:05,820 um a negative outcome from childbirth if 734 00:29:05,820 --> 00:29:07,620 I went on to go to terms so these are 735 00:29:07,620 --> 00:29:11,220 very real Health outcomes 736 00:29:11,220 --> 00:29:12,240 um 737 00:29:12,240 --> 00:29:15,419 and for the common narratives 738 00:29:15,419 --> 00:29:17,100 um here's some common narratives about 739 00:29:17,100 --> 00:29:19,020 medication abortion which we focused on 740 00:29:19,020 --> 00:29:21,360 here this is the one that will also dive 741 00:29:21,360 --> 00:29:23,220 deeper into so keep this in mind we'll 742 00:29:23,220 --> 00:29:25,260 come back to it the first narrative is 743 00:29:25,260 --> 00:29:27,659 that there's an abortion pill abortion 744 00:29:27,659 --> 00:29:29,720 reversal pill that is safe and effective 745 00:29:29,720 --> 00:29:31,980 not true 746 00:29:31,980 --> 00:29:35,039 um abortion pills are unsafe also not 747 00:29:35,039 --> 00:29:36,779 true they're actually safer than 748 00:29:36,779 --> 00:29:39,240 surgical abortion which brings us to our 749 00:29:39,240 --> 00:29:40,980 third one chemical abortion is riskier 750 00:29:40,980 --> 00:29:42,840 than surgical abortion chemical abortion 751 00:29:42,840 --> 00:29:45,240 is a really scary way of talking about 752 00:29:45,240 --> 00:29:47,399 medication abortion that is intended to 753 00:29:47,399 --> 00:29:49,380 fear monger and then a fourth is that 754 00:29:49,380 --> 00:29:50,940 taking herbs is a safe and effective 755 00:29:50,940 --> 00:29:53,279 abortion method unfortunately also not 756 00:29:53,279 --> 00:29:55,140 true 757 00:29:55,140 --> 00:29:57,419 um and then abortion risks common 758 00:29:57,419 --> 00:29:59,399 narratives late term abortions are never 759 00:29:59,399 --> 00:30:01,380 safe that's not necessarily true they 760 00:30:01,380 --> 00:30:03,059 can actually be incredibly life-saving 761 00:30:03,059 --> 00:30:06,720 abortion causes infertility nope not 762 00:30:06,720 --> 00:30:09,299 evidence and abortion is never medically 763 00:30:09,299 --> 00:30:12,360 Justified also not true 764 00:30:12,360 --> 00:30:16,100 um and then stigma this pertains to 765 00:30:16,100 --> 00:30:19,140 misinformation about stigma so for 766 00:30:19,140 --> 00:30:20,279 instance 767 00:30:20,279 --> 00:30:22,080 um like your partner will know that you 768 00:30:22,080 --> 00:30:23,820 have an abortion or providers won't want 769 00:30:23,820 --> 00:30:24,899 to care for you if you've had an 770 00:30:24,899 --> 00:30:27,480 abortion as well as misinformation that 771 00:30:27,480 --> 00:30:31,559 is by nature stigmatizing so one is the 772 00:30:31,559 --> 00:30:33,419 unborn babies are aborted so that their 773 00:30:33,419 --> 00:30:35,820 organs and cells can be harvested this 774 00:30:35,820 --> 00:30:37,380 is clearly intended to make somebody 775 00:30:37,380 --> 00:30:39,899 feel like what they're doing is really 776 00:30:39,899 --> 00:30:42,600 wrong and evil and scary 777 00:30:42,600 --> 00:30:44,159 um you will be suicidal if you've got an 778 00:30:44,159 --> 00:30:45,899 abortion so that's both like making 779 00:30:45,899 --> 00:30:47,820 somebody already feel isolated as well 780 00:30:47,820 --> 00:30:50,220 as scared and abortion causes fetal pain 781 00:30:50,220 --> 00:30:52,679 which is also not true and is intended 782 00:30:52,679 --> 00:30:56,640 to induce guilt shame and stigma 783 00:30:56,640 --> 00:30:58,320 um among those who are considering 784 00:30:58,320 --> 00:31:00,539 abortion or have had abortion 785 00:31:00,539 --> 00:31:02,399 so now we're going to dive into abortion 786 00:31:02,399 --> 00:31:04,860 procedures specifically 787 00:31:04,860 --> 00:31:06,240 um the claim that there's an abortion 788 00:31:06,240 --> 00:31:08,640 reversal pill so 789 00:31:08,640 --> 00:31:12,419 abortion pill reversal is uh basically 790 00:31:12,419 --> 00:31:13,799 just a really large amount of 791 00:31:13,799 --> 00:31:15,600 progesterone taken by a pregnant person 792 00:31:15,600 --> 00:31:17,940 after the first dose of medical medic 793 00:31:17,940 --> 00:31:19,679 yeah medical abortion or medication 794 00:31:19,679 --> 00:31:21,899 abortion which is called mifipristone 795 00:31:21,899 --> 00:31:24,600 and before the second set of medication 796 00:31:24,600 --> 00:31:27,419 which is misoprostol so it's kind of 797 00:31:27,419 --> 00:31:29,580 this progesterone is like sandwiched in 798 00:31:29,580 --> 00:31:32,100 between if a person and misoprostol it's 799 00:31:32,100 --> 00:31:32,940 like 800 00:31:32,940 --> 00:31:35,220 right in the middle 801 00:31:35,220 --> 00:31:36,059 um 802 00:31:36,059 --> 00:31:38,880 but turns out the safety of abortion 803 00:31:38,880 --> 00:31:40,919 pill reversal is completely unproven and 804 00:31:40,919 --> 00:31:43,320 with stops in clinical trials due to 805 00:31:43,320 --> 00:31:45,840 dangerous hemorrhaging so among the 10 806 00:31:45,840 --> 00:31:47,940 patients involved in the study before 807 00:31:47,940 --> 00:31:50,220 the study was cut off three of the 808 00:31:50,220 --> 00:31:52,440 patients experienced severe hemorrhaging 809 00:31:52,440 --> 00:31:54,179 requiring ambulance support to a 810 00:31:54,179 --> 00:31:57,600 hospital and the trial was stopped 811 00:31:57,600 --> 00:32:00,559 um so that's you know 812 00:32:00,559 --> 00:32:03,179 very very concerning and it's especially 813 00:32:03,179 --> 00:32:06,720 concerning that there is a significant 814 00:32:06,720 --> 00:32:09,720 amount of misinformation online about 815 00:32:09,720 --> 00:32:12,960 abortion reversal pills this is one of 816 00:32:12,960 --> 00:32:14,580 the most common narratives that we found 817 00:32:14,580 --> 00:32:17,820 about abortion across platforms so you 818 00:32:17,820 --> 00:32:19,500 can see a bunch of those narratives here 819 00:32:19,500 --> 00:32:21,299 I won't read into all of them but 820 00:32:21,299 --> 00:32:22,919 they're essentially success stories 821 00:32:22,919 --> 00:32:24,679 about 822 00:32:24,679 --> 00:32:29,159 abortion reversal using progesterone 823 00:32:29,159 --> 00:32:31,399 um and are typically stemming from 824 00:32:31,399 --> 00:32:35,100 anti-abortion groups and websites the 825 00:32:35,100 --> 00:32:36,779 other scary thing that goes back to the 826 00:32:36,779 --> 00:32:38,279 connection between 827 00:32:38,279 --> 00:32:41,279 U.S laws and bills and the rhetoric 828 00:32:41,279 --> 00:32:43,080 that's spreading online is that six 829 00:32:43,080 --> 00:32:45,659 states in the U.S actually require that 830 00:32:45,659 --> 00:32:47,220 you share with patients that abortion 831 00:32:47,220 --> 00:32:49,020 reversal medication is an option after 832 00:32:49,020 --> 00:32:50,700 the first set of pills have been taken 833 00:32:50,700 --> 00:32:52,799 which is 834 00:32:52,799 --> 00:32:55,620 really I can't emphasize how disturbing 835 00:32:55,620 --> 00:32:56,760 that is 836 00:32:56,760 --> 00:32:59,279 um because there is one study that 837 00:32:59,279 --> 00:33:00,899 analyzed this 838 00:33:00,899 --> 00:33:02,279 um this 839 00:33:02,279 --> 00:33:04,740 abortion pill reversal and it was 840 00:33:04,740 --> 00:33:06,720 stopped because of safety concerns so 841 00:33:06,720 --> 00:33:09,240 the deprioritization of people's bodies 842 00:33:09,240 --> 00:33:12,299 and reproductive autonomy here is really 843 00:33:12,299 --> 00:33:14,820 scary and it's very much being fueled by 844 00:33:14,820 --> 00:33:17,100 the misinformation that's being allowed 845 00:33:17,100 --> 00:33:19,200 to run rampant online and the platforms 846 00:33:19,200 --> 00:33:21,059 are actually profiting off of I'm not 847 00:33:21,059 --> 00:33:22,919 going to get deep into it right now but 848 00:33:22,919 --> 00:33:26,940 essentially a lot of ads on search 849 00:33:26,940 --> 00:33:29,940 engines and social media platforms are 850 00:33:29,940 --> 00:33:32,700 about abortion pill reversal and 851 00:33:32,700 --> 00:33:35,460 um are essentially funding these 852 00:33:35,460 --> 00:33:38,220 internet companies so 853 00:33:38,220 --> 00:33:40,740 it's a problem all right I'm not gonna 854 00:33:40,740 --> 00:33:42,659 I'm way over time so I'm not going to 855 00:33:42,659 --> 00:33:44,159 dive into this too much but I just want 856 00:33:44,159 --> 00:33:46,220 to note that we have some fourth family 857 00:33:46,220 --> 00:33:49,260 supplementary Quant data I really wanted 858 00:33:49,260 --> 00:33:51,240 to understand from a quantitative 859 00:33:51,240 --> 00:33:54,860 perspective how a portion misinformation 860 00:33:54,860 --> 00:33:58,559 changed after the leak and after the 861 00:33:58,559 --> 00:34:00,600 decision we know that searches in 862 00:34:00,600 --> 00:34:01,980 general increase we know that there's 863 00:34:01,980 --> 00:34:03,779 been a lot of misinformation online but 864 00:34:03,779 --> 00:34:06,120 there really haven't been many attempts 865 00:34:06,120 --> 00:34:08,219 to quantify what that looks like and 866 00:34:08,219 --> 00:34:11,219 what that means so we're pulling 867 00:34:11,219 --> 00:34:14,520 um we're retroactively pulling data from 868 00:34:14,520 --> 00:34:18,780 the Twitter API and are analyzing 869 00:34:18,780 --> 00:34:19,440 um 870 00:34:19,440 --> 00:34:21,239 I'm sorry my computer just said 871 00:34:21,239 --> 00:34:24,239 something weird and are analyzing the 872 00:34:24,239 --> 00:34:27,060 um the tweets by random sampling to see 873 00:34:27,060 --> 00:34:29,639 what volume of misinformation there was 874 00:34:29,639 --> 00:34:31,260 about abortion before the leak and after 875 00:34:31,260 --> 00:34:32,639 the leak and before the decision and 876 00:34:32,639 --> 00:34:35,820 after the decision so stay tuned 877 00:34:35,820 --> 00:34:38,879 um okay so in summary quality gendered 878 00:34:38,879 --> 00:34:42,179 health information online matters deeply 879 00:34:42,179 --> 00:34:43,800 people with marginalized gender 880 00:34:43,800 --> 00:34:45,540 identities are at risk of encountering 881 00:34:45,540 --> 00:34:47,879 substandard Health content online health 882 00:34:47,879 --> 00:34:49,800 information online can have impacts on 883 00:34:49,800 --> 00:34:52,440 behavior and including health behavior 884 00:34:52,440 --> 00:34:54,480 health information can shape narratives 885 00:34:54,480 --> 00:34:56,639 and social norms so even if there isn't 886 00:34:56,639 --> 00:34:58,920 even if one person isn't being directly 887 00:34:58,920 --> 00:35:01,740 hurt in one moment by one post it's the 888 00:35:01,740 --> 00:35:05,460 type of normalcy that's created around 889 00:35:05,460 --> 00:35:08,640 specific falsities that we're allowing 890 00:35:08,640 --> 00:35:10,440 to run ramp but online that ultimately 891 00:35:10,440 --> 00:35:13,680 impact behavior and health 892 00:35:13,680 --> 00:35:14,820 um and then finally health information 893 00:35:14,820 --> 00:35:16,700 is most important for those most 894 00:35:16,700 --> 00:35:18,839 marginalized and should be urgently 895 00:35:18,839 --> 00:35:21,300 prioritized by platforms without 896 00:35:21,300 --> 00:35:22,920 Equitable and high quality health 897 00:35:22,920 --> 00:35:24,599 information for those with marginalized 898 00:35:24,599 --> 00:35:26,820 gender identities we risk worsening our 899 00:35:26,820 --> 00:35:28,980 crisis of Health inequity particularly 900 00:35:28,980 --> 00:35:31,500 for those most at risk there's a lot of 901 00:35:31,500 --> 00:35:33,839 importations healthcare access Mental 902 00:35:33,839 --> 00:35:36,480 Health Data privacy safety online gender 903 00:35:36,480 --> 00:35:39,000 Equity harassment online long-term 904 00:35:39,000 --> 00:35:40,800 Health outcomes digital inclusivity 905 00:35:40,800 --> 00:35:44,760 human rights and so much more so I hope 906 00:35:44,760 --> 00:35:46,619 that this gives you a little bit of a 907 00:35:46,619 --> 00:35:48,420 sense of the types of narratives that 908 00:35:48,420 --> 00:35:50,579 are out there I know we really did like 909 00:35:50,579 --> 00:35:52,500 a Russian doll situation of unpacking 910 00:35:52,500 --> 00:35:54,180 those topics 911 00:35:54,180 --> 00:35:57,240 um but the full set of case studies the 912 00:35:57,240 --> 00:36:00,119 full report will be published in about 913 00:36:00,119 --> 00:36:02,040 two weeks so I do hope that you'll go 914 00:36:02,040 --> 00:36:03,599 check it out and read it I have a whole 915 00:36:03,599 --> 00:36:05,700 guideline in the intro for how different 916 00:36:05,700 --> 00:36:09,720 stakeholders can use the report and I 917 00:36:09,720 --> 00:36:12,240 deeply deeply hope and believe that this 918 00:36:12,240 --> 00:36:13,980 will lead to more more sustainable 919 00:36:13,980 --> 00:36:17,220 change on the platform ends for taking 920 00:36:17,220 --> 00:36:19,079 accountability for gendered health 921 00:36:19,079 --> 00:36:21,540 misinformation and that women trans 922 00:36:21,540 --> 00:36:23,280 people and non-binary people will have 923 00:36:23,280 --> 00:36:25,320 safer spaces to access health content 924 00:36:25,320 --> 00:36:27,839 online moving forward thank you so much 925 00:36:27,839 --> 00:36:31,040 and happy deathcon