Study shows 81% of cancer cures touted in TikTok videos are fake

According to a new study from City St George's, University of London, up to 81% of cancer cures touted by content creators on TikTok are fake.

The ethnographic study by Dr. Sociology lecturer Stephanie Alice Baker gave TikTok's algorithm free reign to recommend videos to a user looking for cancer cures. It found that only 19% of the monitored videos contained legitimate medical advice.

Generation Z is particularly vulnerable to this cancer misinformation because TikTok is used as a search engine by younger demographics and is an important means of accessing health information.

Not only is there widespread misinformation about cancer, but the platform also allows developers to link to e-commerce stores and websites where users can purchase harmful products.

TikTokers have been able to profit financially from misinformation about cancer cures by selling products like oregano oil, apricot kernels, or dog dewormers (which are unsafe for human consumption).

Additionally, cancer misinformation videos can become a gateway for more extreme, conspiratorial content. In the attention economy, content creators are encouraged to publish increasingly salacious content because it is encouraged by the algorithm and the creators can make financial gains.

Of the 163 videos that shared fake cancer cure claims, 32% relied on conspiracy theories to legitimize their content. Some videos show conflicting doctors who believe the idea that the government is hiding miracle cures.

TikTok's endless scrolling feature leaves users vulnerable to radicalization. Viewers go through a gradual process of socialization by watching increasingly extreme videos recommended by the platform's algorithm.

To conduct the study, a TikTok account was created in which the user searched for the term “cancer cure” to mimic a user conducting their own research, and the platform's algorithm was then allowed to adopt subsequent recommendations.

The top 50 posts that appeared for the search “cancer cure” on TikTok’s “For You” page were collected weekly between April and May 2024 and analyzed thematically.

The videos could be divided into five types:

1. Personal anecdotes from cancer survivors
2. Controversial doctors discuss miracle cures
3. Conspiracy theories about corrupt medical institutions
4. spiritual videos about the importance of faith in overcoming illness
5. informative articles about selling products

Dr. Baker said: “The sheer amount of misinformation on TikTok surrounding cancer cures is alarming. Eighty-one percent of fake cancer cures are frightening and should alert online regulators. Taking advantage of vulnerable people is simply unfair. Governments urgently need to put more pressure on social media giants to better moderate their content.

“Platforms like TikTok pose an existential risk: not only can they spread misinformation and direct users to harmful products, but the algorithm also promotes a process of radicalization.”

The study, titled “'Link in Bio': Fake Cancer Cures, Radicalization Pathways and Online Hars on TikTok,” is scheduled to be published in The impact of misinformation and disinformation on a democratic society. It is currently available on the SocArXiv Preprint server.