Experts warn of rising health disinformation in Poland

Experts in Warsaw have warned that health disinformation is no longer a marginal internet issue, posing severe risks to public health and institutional trust. During a debate titled ‘Diagnosis from an algorithm, therapy from TikTok’, specialists discussed the findings of the ‘Snake Oil Nation’ project, which investigated the growing market for pseudoscientific health practices in Poland.

The project examined how private clinics, influencers, and brands market unverified therapies and products. Data from a report by the Wroclaw Medical University indicated that between January 2025 and May 2026, medical disinformation appeared in over 32,000 media publications, reaching an estimated 2.6 billion people. Additionally, over 347,000 social media posts related to the topic reached approximately 850 million viewers.

Professor Dominik Batorski from the University of Warsaw noted that much of this disinformation is economically motivated. While explicitly pseudoscientific content accounted for only a small percentage of analyzed medical advertisements, these posts achieved massive reach, with some advertisements disappearing only after they had already reached their target audience.