Surgeon General issues advisory calling health misinformation an urgent threat

Surgeon General Vivek Murthy issued the first surgeon general's advisory of the Biden administration, declaring health misinformation an urgent threat to public health and a whole-of-society problem. It recommended that technology platforms redesign recommendation algorithms to avoid amplifying misinformation, impose clear consequences for repeat policy violators, share data with researchers and the government, and amplify credible sources. The advisory explicitly acknowledged tension between curbing misinformation and 'safeguarding user privacy and free expression.'