If you’re on a family WhatsApp group, you’ll already know that fake news around coronavirus is rife.
Whether it’s an aunt sharing messages from a ‘friend’s sister who works in a hospital’ or your dad sending you scaremongering videos from people allegedly in the army or police, it’s hard to know what to believe.
But what about when this incorrect messaging is coming not from a tech-unsavvy quinquagenarian, but an influencer with tens of or hundreds of thousands of followers?
Although flat tummy teas and hair growth gummies (usual influencer fodder) aren’t without their dangers or drawbacks, a number of social media stars are moving into dangerous territory by selling supplements and treatments purporting that they can prevent, cure, or treat coronavirus.
The selling of supplements is not illegal, but the Advertising Standards Authority say they are currently investigating a number of advertisements for products where there is a claim regarding COVID-19.
Matt Wilson, the Media and Public Affairs Manager of the ASA told Metro.co.uk: ‘We’re currently investigating an influencer (and company) promoting a face spray that claims to kill viruses.
‘And we’re currently assessing the promotion by various influencers of an ‘antibacterial snood’ to establish if there are grounds for further action.’
Vitamins and supplements available for sale online will rarely cause any harm to people. However, when it’s said or implied that these products can protect against coronavirus, the waters become muddied.
In one instance of this, Ingrid De La Mare-Kenny, who has over 55,000 followers on Instagram posted a picture on March 8 with the caption: ‘I can’t keep posting about health and flat tummies and ignore Coronavirus. It’s happening, and you need to be educated about your immune system to avoid falling victim to it.’
As well as advising for followers to eat vitamin-rich foods and eradicate processed foods, Ingrid detailed contact she’d had with a ‘Monaco Health dept official’ who allegedly told her said ‘Right now the elders, children & those with immune diseases should worry, but we have Simply Inulin in our systems working to fuel our immune system we are ok.’
Simply Inulin is one of the products sold by Ingrid’s company Gangster Chic, and is a prebiotic fibre supplement costing €26.99 per tub.
The Instagram post’s caption, which has since been changed, also said: ‘SIMPLY INULIN may be the very weapon to help boost your immune system and potentially fight off viruses. It’s science and it could help to fight it off much better than a mask can.’
Although there is a wealth of research that shows prebiotics can boost the immune system, there has been little to no research specifically on the effects of prebiotics and probiotics on COVID-19, and none whatsoever on whether inulin specifically reduces the chance of contracting the virus.
This Instagram post was published before a national emergency was declared in many countries, including in Ingrid’s country of residence Monaco.
When Metro.co.uk reached out to Ingrid for comment the post was changed and she highlighted that she does not call herself an influencer, but a licensed health professional (although declined to comment on the specific qualification she holds and declined to allow us to publish her response about the post featuring Simply Inulin and coronavirus).
We are all navigating new and changing research and influencers – whether self-defined or otherwise – cannot be held solely responsible for the overload of information on what works and what doesn’t.
It’s also not necessarily the case that those with large followings are recommending products in bad faith. However, there are still potential consequences for those who promote products alluding to their health benefits in relation to coronavirus, regardless of intent.
‘Using #coronavirus is highly likely to be problematic in relation to the promotion of any health-related product that could be understood as helping to prevent or treat the disease,’ said Matt.
‘More broadly, in response to the COVID-19 crisis we have prioritised our work to tackle companies or individuals seeking to use advertising to exploit the circumstances for their own gain, for example, ads that exploit people’s health-related anxieties.
‘As part of that, we’ve set-up a ‘report not complain’ function that helps consumers flag up concerns quickly so that we can take effective action against problematic coronavirus ads.’
While those selling products on Instagram, TikTok, or Facebook might not actively say ‘this can cure coronavirus’, often the links to prevention or defence are somewhat more tenuous.
For example, Angelo Grinceri, a Functional Wellness Consultant with 27,500 followers on Instagram, has a link to an Amazon list on his bio that features various supplements. Above the link it states: ‘Get all of your Coronavirus Defense needs right here.’
Angelo told Metro.co.uk: ‘I believe there are certain protective measures that can be used to avoid and/or fight off covid19.
‘1. Avoiding: using protective wear and disinfecting your phone and incoming packages.
2. Fight off COVID-19 with your natural immune system. Your immune system is designed to attack virus’ and the healthier your gut and cells are the more efficiently your body will defend.’
Angelo makes between 1% and 2% of the sales that come from his Amazon link through affiliates.
It appears to be common sense that a boosted immune system would be better at fighting viruses, which is what we’ve seen when it comes to colds and flu.
But given how serious COVID-19 has proven to be, and how those who are not immunocompromised have lost their lives, could linking coronavirus in this way prove false hope for followers who feel they are safe due to taking these supplements?
Regarding the immune system and coronavirus, the current guidance from the NHS is that those with a weakened immune system ‘as the result of conditions such as HIV and AIDS, or medicines such as steroid tablets or chemotherapy’ are considered at-risk.
The NHS also states that there is little benefit to most vitamin supplements for most people (and that some can be harmful in high doses), backed by research from various studies on their efficacy.
Angelo and Ingrid are far from the only ones making loose connections between a boosted immune system and protection against COVID-19.
Spanish bodybuilder and supplement company owner Sergi Constance (4.4 million followers) claims that his brand’s new Immune Complex tablets are ‘known for their immunological-stimulating properties and their ability to protect you against viral infections.’
Speaker, author, and supplement company owner Ben Greenfield (251,000 followers) promoted Ozone generators – which are used to pump O3 gas into the rectum – on his feed, with a personal link and discount code (which can imply he makes a cut of the purchases made).
The post said: ‘This is probably one of the most powerful things you can get during these times, and an amazing health tool for you and your family going forward… Ozone gas has been proven to kill the SARS coronavirus. The structure of the new 2019-nCoV coronavirus is similar to the SARS coronavirus, it is possible that it could also work on the new virus.’
The FDA in the US state: ‘Ozone is a toxic gas with no known useful medical application in specific, adjunctive, or preventive therapy.’
They also claim that it can cause irritation to the lungs, which may result in pulmonary oedema.
Both Sergi and Ben have been contacted for comment but have not replied at the time of writing.
Instagram has stepped in to remove posts that make false claims about prevention or curing of coronavirus, in line with WHO guidelines.
They claim: ‘We’ve also banned ads and commerce listings that imply a product guarantees a cure or prevents people from contracting COVID-19.’
On Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok, the hashtag coronavirus will show an educational message connecting them to resources from the World Health Organisation and local health ministries.
The problem here is that the claims made in these posts are veiled enough to imply you can ‘defend’ against the virus or ‘fight’ it more effectively, without actively mentioning a cure or full prevention.
The ASA has been quick to act against those who have sold products in a similar manner.
Matt says: ‘We’ve already taken against ads for face mask and we’re currently fast-tracking investigations into IV drip clinics that claim to protect consumers from COVID-19.’
In an article for Al-Jazeera, Dr Sara Kayat, who works as a GP for the NHS, says: ‘No amount of kale or flaxseed will stop you from catching this contagious and serious viral infection. Hand washing, social distancing and self-isolation remain the only current ways we have to actively prevent it…
‘Furthermore, the immune system is not designed to be “boosted”, and if it were able to work in overdrive it could actually result in us becoming more unwell by damaging our healthy cells and tissue as well, which is what can happen in “autoimmune” conditions.’
If these ‘covinfluencers’ wish to sell their products for general health or wellbeing, it’s unclear why they feel the need to do so with mention of a global pandemic that has killed tens of thousands of people.
Not only could it land them in hot water with regulators, it could harm the people they wish to help.
Do you have a story to share? Get in touch at MetroLifestyleTeam@metro.co.uk.
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source https://metro.co.uk/2020/04/10/dark-side-instagram-influencers-trying-sell-supplements-cure-prevent-coronavirus-12532648/?ITO=squid
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