At StopSCAM, our goal is to quickly identify cancer misinformation and provide resources to help you avoid it in the future. As you navigate around our site, you’ll learn about common myths related to cancer prevention, cancer causes, and the real-world harms of cancer misinformation. While we often refer to “misinformation”, we use the term broadly to talk about both mis- and disinformation, which can mean different things.
Everyone believes misinformation sometimes – even you.
We are all at risk of believing false information. It doesn’t matter where you live, how much money you make, or how old you are. According to a Leger survey, 79% of Canadians believe at least one conspiracy theory.
Some of these beliefs and the proportion of Canadians who agree with them are shown below. Maybe you or a loved one agrees with them, too.
When it comes to our health, we might be even more susceptible.
More than 2 in 5 Canadians say they have tried medical advice they found online (Canadian Medical Association). And it makes sense that we would: Few of us have a family doctor but we all want to make the right choices for ourselves and our families.
We have access to more health information than ever before, a situation the World Health Organization calls an infodemic: an overabundance of information, some accurate and some not, that makes it hard to find trustworthy sources and reliable guidance when we need it most.
Cancer misinformation is everywhere – and it’s easy to understand why.
Cancer is a complicated disease – it’s actually hundreds of complicated diseases. It’s also scary and touches almost every family at some time in our lives. That makes us especially eager to believe claims about how to prevent it, even when those claims aren’t backed by evidence. Online, this creates the perfect environment for cancer myths to spread.
In fact, people who actively and regularly look up health information online believe more cancer misinformation than people who say they never look up health information on the internet (see chart). This is a clue about how hard it is to navigate health information on the internet.
But that doesn’t mean we should not look for health information on the internet. It just means we need to have the right tools and resources to access good information. Whether you’re curious about what actually causes cancer, how to reduce your risk, or why misinformation can be harmful, we’ve put together evidence-based resources to help you sort facts from fiction.
What causes cancer?
Learn about what causes cancer and some common myths about the causes of cancer.
Can cancer be prevented?
Discover how to reduce your risk of cancer and some common myths about cancer prevention.
Why is misinformation harmful?
Learn about the impacts of misinformation to individuals and the public at large.