Facebook Inc. and YouTube are being flooded with scientifically dubious and potentially harmful information about alternative cancer treatments, which sometimes gets viewed millions of times, a Wall Street Journal examination found. Now, the companies say they are taking steps to curb such accounts. Facebook last month changed its News Feed algorithms to reduce promotion of posts promising miracle cures or flogging health services, a move that will reduce the number of times they pop up in user feeds, the company says....
Facebook, Pinterest and YouTube are cracking down on the spread of medical misinformation on their sites, after a recent investigation by The Wall Street Journal exposed adverts for bogus treatments for diseases including cancer, as well as the growing anti-vaccination movement. In 2016, supplement salesman YoungRobert O Young was jailed for practising medicine without a licence, after earning up to $5m annually from internet customers — mainly through Facebook and YouTube. After his release, Robert O Young has several pages on Facebook. A 2018 study by JAMA Oncology found people who choose alternative cancer treatments over conventional therapies have a higher mortality risk.