The Hypocrisy of Medical Disinformation: A Report from Hungary

Falyuna, Nóra and Krekó, Péter (2023) The Hypocrisy of Medical Disinformation: A Report from Hungary. THE SKEPTICAL INQUIRER, 47 (3). pp. 14-18. ISSN 0194-6730

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Abstract

Looking at the business behind pseudoscientific disinformation, we see that disseminators of online medical disinformation a hypocritical anti-capitalists. Despite regularly attacking the “pharmaceutical mafia” and Big Pharma, they obtain tremendous profits both directly (through website advertisements and clicks) and indirectly (through promotion of pseudoscientific medi products). Thus, the editors of medical disinformation websites are neither victims of deception nor “useful idiots.” They are instead motivated by financial interests, making disinformation the best marketing tool possible. Fake news sells best. Many clickbait and disinformation websites that spread pseudoscientific content and medical disinformation generate much their revenue through advertisements. Previous studies have revealed how profitable the dissemination of disinformation m be. For example, despite promises to filter anti-vaccine content, tech companies generate up to $1 billion a year in advertisin and other revenue through their support of the anti-vax industry (CCDH 2020). According to the Business of Misinformation project focusing on Central and Eastern Europe (Bosnia and Herzegovina, Hung Moldova, Romania, Serbia, and Slovakia), ad placement is one of the primary sources of profit for most misinformation websi This method relies heavily on Google’s advertising system (Szakács 2020). We examined this business model used by medica pseudoscientific and disinformation websites in a study published by a Budapest-based think tank, Political Capital Institute year (Falyuna et al. 2022)

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