HELSINKI, Finland — The rise of social media has reshaped how people access and interpret health information, and nowhere is this more evident than in the booming market for dietary supplements and online content about e-cigarettes. Experts here at the 18th European Public Health Conference warned that unchecked misinformation online is distorting perceptions and undermining public health communication. 

Christopher Jones, a psychology researcher at the University of Heidelberg, Germany, said rebuilding public trust requires more than fact-checking.

“Countering misinformation cannot rely on isolated debunking efforts alone but must be embedded in a broader cultural shift toward transparency, dialogue, and mutual understanding,” Jones said.

He added that effective communication is as essential as scientific accuracy, since poor communication undermines scientific progress in public health.

One audience member captured the frustration: “We do know the science — but we have absolutely no idea how to communicate [to the lay public].”

Supplements and Social Media 

Cassandra Ama Omane, a PhD candidate at the Leibniz Institute in Bremen, Germany, discussed how misinformation about supplements — concentrated sources of nutrients such as vitamins, minerals, and herbal extracts — has spread widely through social media.

She said many young adults rely on unverified online sources, advertisements, and celebrity endorsements rather than credible medical guidance. 

“Unlike traditional gatekeeping institutions such as the World Health Organization, online and social media platforms now allow anyone to publish content instantly, leaving users responsible for verifying the credibility of what they encounter,” said Omane. 

Presenting findings from her scoping review, she explained how she analyzed nine studies involving athletes across several sports, including weightlifting, taekwondo, basketball, and soccer. The review explored where young adults seek nutritional information and how they assess the credibility of their sources.

Omane said health professionals, advertisements for dietary supplements, and product packaging were the most commonly used sources of information, followed by websites, the internet in general, and coaches or trainers.

The review identified three dominant types of misinformation: misconceptions about product regulation; misunderstandings about safety and efficacy; and misplaced trust in celebrity or athlete endorsements.

Omane said one common misbelief is that supplements are generally safer to use than prescription medication. “Users are often unaware of risks associated with the consumption of these products, or that they may interact with food or drinks. When other athletes or celebrities function as ambassadors for those products, users think that this is proof they are safe to use.”

Omane said product misinformation also has direct implications for interactions with healthcare providers. Consumers often seek validation for marketing claims or assume that physicians and pharmacists are biased against supplements, leading to mistrust and missed opportunities for accurate education.

“This has several implications for public health, including underestimated risks and the susceptibility of vulnerable groups to misinformation,” she said.

e-Cigarettes and Online Narratives

Manuel Badino, PhD, from the University of Alcalá in Madrid, Spain, highlighted how misleading narratives about e-cigarettes are spreading across social media, shaping adolescent and adult perceptions of vaping and undermining tobacco control efforts. 

Badino called for stronger digital public health interventions. “We need to extend policy regulations to the advertisement and promotion of e-cigarette products on social media,” he said. “The spread of misinformation regarding e-cigarettes is a very important public health concern.”

According to World Health Organization data, the European Union now has the world’s highest rates of e-cigarette use, affecting approximately 14.3% of adolescents and 4.3% of adults.

“Tobacco use remains one of the main public health challenges, with more than 7 million deaths every year worldwide,” Badino said.

He added that “misinformation about e-cigarettes on social media tends to focus on three key narratives: that electronic cigarettes are marketed as a supposed harm reduction strategy, as a smoking cessation strategy by the tobacco industry, and for offering environmental advantages over traditional tobacco.”

He suggested that digital public health strategies could help counter these narratives by engaging influential voices and users in discussions. “Campaigns involving individual users, influencers, or other celebrities are very common for promoting e-cigarette use,” he noted. “But there are also interesting discussions about including influencers or celebrities as part of prevention campaigns, particularly among adolescents.”

Badino also emphasized the importance of social media surveillance to understand how misinformation spreads and to develop targeted debunking interventions. “We need to extend policy regulations to the advertisement and promotion of e-cigarette products on social media,” he said, and urged governments to embed misinformation management directly into tobacco control legislation.

Badino’s work was recently published in the European Journal of Public Health. 

Conference delegate Kym Lavoie, PhD, a Canada Research Chair in Behavioral Medicine and professor at the University of Quebec at Montreal, commented: “I think what’s important is that we teach people how to think, and not what to think — and I think that’s a critical distinction.” 

No financial conflicts of interest were declared.