A few weeks ago we were discussing a BMJ news item with the provocative heading 'Taking down online scientific misinformation isn't necessary, as most people don't believe it, says Royal Society'.
https://www.bmj.com/content/376/bmj.o182
HIFA member Joseph Ana commented: "I have been wondering what the respected Society actually wants to achieve with its comment... Misinformation once identified should be retracted from the global literature. Let's not leave the reliability of the global scientific literature and health information to chance. The risk to public health is too high."
Richard Horton, editor-in-chief of The Lancet, agrees. He has written a column in today's Lancet where he writes:
'The Royal Society believes that removal of content from the internet will do more harm than good. It would be prohibitively expensive. And it could worsen mistrust. The Royal Society is wrong...'
CITATION: Comment| volume 399, issue 10327, p778, February 26, 2022
Offline: There is no right to lie
Richard Horton
Published: February 26, 2022 DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(22)00370-1
Neil Pakenham-Walsh, HIFA Coordinator, neil@hifa.org www.hifa.org
