Alarming rise in misinformation about women's health on social media,

MONTRÉAL — Harmful diets, false information about intrauterine devices or abortion pills — misinformation and disinformation about women’s health are spreading like wildfire on social media apps like TikTok and Instagram.

Misinformation is information that is false or misleading, regardless of intent, while disinformation is information that the person spreading it knows is not true, but continues to spread it because they have something to gain from it, Dr. Diane Francoeur, executive director of the Society of Obstetricians and Gynecologists of Canada, told a medical conference on Sept. 11 in Quebec City.

With IUDs, for example, Francoeur says of 471 million videos on the topic on TikTok, 38 per cent of the content is negative, according to her analysis. The videos say things like IUDs