Op-ed: It's time to take a stand

Social media has connected communities, empowered movements and given a platform and a voice to many under-represented groups.There are, however, two sides to the social media coin, and on this World Contraception Day, it is worth taking a moment to talk about the elephant in the room - online misinformation and disinformation about contraception.

Decades of wellbeing and welfare progress around contraception and family planning are being undermined by misinformation and disinformation. And the most significant source of this misinformation is social media.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) explains that misinformation in public health is false information that is spread due to ignorance, error or mistake, without the intent to deceive an audience. Disinformation is when there is a deliberate intention to deceive and cause harm. (WHO 2024).