US Surgeon General Dr Vivek Murthy's office on Thursday issued a request for information about health misinformation, seeking input and data from tech companies, health care providers and community organizations.
The request seeks to understand the scope and impact of misinformation on COVID-19 - particularly when it comes to health care and people's willingness to vaccinate.
"The misinformation has had a profound impact on COVID-19 and our response," Murthy told CNN. “Studies have shown that the vast majority of the American public either believes in common myths about COVID-19 or thinks those myths may be true. And many of them involve myths surrounding the COVID-19 vaccine. So we've seen for the first time how much misinformation is hurting people's health when it comes to COVID."
This is the first time the administration has asked tech companies to publicly share some data, including data on key sources of misinformation, how widespread it is and who may be targeted more than others.
The focus, Murthy said, is on reaching tech companies with wider reach and use, and he wants them to be more transparent and open about sharing data with the public.
"We look forward to any information they share. We are certainly approaching it with an open mind," he added. “Many new technology platforms are also talking about the solutions they are trying to implement, but we want to understand what data they have about whether these solutions are actually working or not.”
He said the information would also help public health researchers who have not been able to successfully collect data about the impact of health misinformation on the platform for a very long time.
Murthy said stories about misinformation from health care workers, teachers and families are equally important.
"Health misinformation is making health care workers' jobs harder at a time when our health care workforce is stressful," he said. "I've heard from health care workers that they're battling COVID in hospitals during the day, and they're on their way home and battling health misinformation at night."
Ultimately, the information will be shared with the public and used to drive responses to future public health emergencies.
People will have till May 2 to respond.
The American Medical Association commends the Surgeon General's effort to root out COVID-19 misinformation online.
“Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, and most recently in my remarks at the National Press Club last week, the AMA has brushed out the junk science and misinformation about this virus that has spread on social media. And mistrust in medicine costs us, costs us lives, and tears families apart," AMA President Dr. Gerald Harmon said in a statement Thursday. "Collecting and understanding this data is critical to reversing its lethal impact and future spread."
Murthy's request follows earlier advice on misinformation and the Community Toolkit, and it aligns with the new COVID-19 preparedness effort announced Wednesday by the White House.
According to the request, "recent research suggests that the majority of Americans believe or are unsure of at least one COVID-19 vaccine lie."