The Lancet Commission on rethinking misinformation, health, and human security warns that false and misleading health information now ranks among the world’s most pressing security challenges. The UN and World Economic Forum have both identified misinformation and disinformation as top-tier global risks—rated as higher short-term threats than extreme weather, armed conflict, and cyber attacks—according to recent UN assessments and the World Economic Forum’s Global Risks Report.
Key takeaways
- Misinformation and disinformation ranked as higher short-term global threats than extreme weather, armed conflict, and cyber insecurity by the UN and World Economic Forum
- The COVID-19 pandemic accelerated rather than initiated the misinformation crisis, which continues to evolve
- Rapid advances in artificial intelligence that create realistic deepfakes and synthetic media compound the threat to public health and scientific trust
- Uncontrolled spread through social media platforms has created a high-risk landscape with lasting effects on health outcomes
Global security threat hierarchy: emerging vs. established risks
Relative threat ranking of misinformation against traditional security challenges, 2024–2026
Source: UN Global Risk Assessment, World Economic Forum Global Risks Report, 2024–2026 | Georgian Medical Journal News
COVID-19 accelerated a pre-existing crisis
The misinformation epidemic did not originate with the COVID-19 pandemic, though the crisis exposed and intensified it. The Lancet Commission report notes that false health information had been spreading systematically long before 2020, but the pandemic provided an unprecedented focal point and accelerated adoption of misinformation through digital channels. Since the pandemic’s acute phase, the landscape has continued to evolve with new vector routes and mechanisms of transmission.
Social media platforms have emerged as the primary distribution infrastructure for misinformation, enabling rapid, near-uncontrolled propagation at scale. The combination of algorithmic amplification, low friction for sharing, and minimal editorial oversight has created an environment where false claims can reach billions within hours, with persistent effects on public behaviour and health-seeking decisions.
Artificial intelligence deepens the credibility crisis
Advances in artificial intelligence technology—particularly generative AI systems capable of producing convincing synthetic media—have fundamentally altered the threat landscape. These systems can now create realistic deepfakes of real people and events, voice recordings that are difficult to distinguish from originals, and synthetic documents that pass initial scrutiny. This technological shift represents a qualitative change in the misinformation threat: false information is no longer merely circulated; it can be manufactured at scale with high fidelity to reality.
The implications extend beyond individual health decisions. According to the Lancet Commission assessment, persistent exposure to misinformation erodes public trust in scientific institutions, health authorities, and media—a loss of institutional trust that is difficult and slow to rebuild. This erosion has lasting consequences for disease surveillance, vaccine acceptance, clinical trial recruitment, and the public’s capacity to respond to genuine health emergencies.
Health outcomes and institutional trust at risk
The health consequences of misinformation are no longer theoretical. Vaccine hesitancy linked to false claims has resulted in measles outbreaks in previously protected populations, cancer patients have delayed evidence-based treatment in favour of unproven alternatives, and public health responses to emerging diseases have been compromised by competing false narratives. The World Health Organization’s risk communication framework now explicitly identifies misinformation management as a core component of pandemic preparedness.
Beyond immediate clinical harm, the erosion of trust in science represents a threat to the entire structure of evidence-based medicine and public health. When populations cannot reliably distinguish credible from non-credible health information, the foundational premise of informed consent—and therefore the legitimacy of medical practice itself—is undermined. See related coverage in Health Policy and Sheni Ukhlebebi.
Misinformation and disinformation now rank as higher short-term global threats than extreme weather, armed conflict, and cyber insecurity, with implications for health outcomes and institutional trust in science.
— Lancet Commission on Rethinking Misinformation, Health, and Human Security, The Lancet (2026)
What this means
Frequently asked questions
How is misinformation different from disinformation?
Misinformation refers to false information shared without intent to deceive; disinformation is deliberately crafted and distributed to mislead. Both cause harm, but disinformation represents a more deliberate threat. The UN Global Risk Assessment treats them together as a unified threat category due to their overlapping impacts on public trust and health outcomes.
Can artificial intelligence be used to fight misinformation?
Yes, AI can assist in detecting synthetic media, identifying coordinated inauthentic behaviour, and amplifying credible health information. However, AI tools are currently reactive—they operate after false claims have already spread. Proactive measures such as media literacy, transparent institutional communication, and platform governance reforms remain essential. The WHO’s risk communication guidance emphasizes that technology alone cannot solve this problem.
Why is institutional trust so important during health crises?
When populations trust their health authorities, they comply with public health measures, seek appropriate medical care, and participate in disease surveillance. Loss of trust leads to vaccine refusal, delayed treatment-seeking, and non-compliance with evidence-based public health guidance—all of which increase disease burden and mortality. Rebuilding trust is slower than losing it and may take years to recover. This underscores why the misinformation crisis has lasting consequences for population health beyond the immediate period of exposure.
The Lancet Commission’s framing of misinformation as a security threat signals a shift in how the global health community conceptualizes the problem—no longer as a communications challenge, but as a fundamental threat to health security and institutional capacity. Addressing it will require sustained, multi-sectoral investment in fact-checking infrastructure, media literacy, platform governance, and transparent science communication. The stakes are global health security and the public’s ability to respond effectively to future health emergencies.
Source: The Lancet Commission on rethinking misinformation, health, and human security
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