Government guidelines for influencers and content creators are a gentle nudge with no bite. Health has become synonymous with wellness and anything goes. Many are also promoting active scepticism toward allopathy and modern medicine in the name of kitchen remedies, ancient knowledge, and cultural pride. For fact-checkers, this is the natural extension of the ‘WhatsApp University’ — an ecosystem that feeds on impressionable consumers and a culture of wilful ignorance. https://theprint.in/ground-reports/indian-health-influencers-whatsapp-university-fact-checkers/2709818/
Regulations are sparse, and the DMs of health influencers are overflowing. So much so that even certified doctors and nutritionists are creating content as a necessary credibility-booster. But how do we pack complex health information in 15-second reels? According to nutritionists, there’s a growing club of Indians across the spectrum who’d rather receive treatment through content — professionals are passé.
As the tide of misinformation grows stronger, there’s also a simultaneous pushback. A small group of professionals, like Krish Ashok of Masala Lab, hepatologist Dr Cyriac Abby Philips or the Liver Doc, and Sudipta Sengupta who runs The Healthy Indian Project (THIP), are fact-checking myths and popular trends, and calling out influencers. But more often than not, they’re not as potent as the peddlers of health flogging everything from magnesium to protein.
01/08/2025