[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 44 (Monday, March 7, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 12712-12714]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-04777]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES


Impact of Health Misinformation in the Digital Information 
Environment in the United States Throughout the COVID-19 Pandemic 
Request for Information (RFI)

AGENCY: Office of the Surgeon General, Department of Health and Human 
Services.

ACTION: Request for information (RFI).

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SUMMARY: The Office of the Surgeon General requests input from 
interested parties on the impact and prevalence of health 
misinformation in the digital information environment during the COVID-
19 pandemic. The purpose of this RFI is to understand the impact of 
COVID-19 misinformation on healthcare infrastructure and public health 
more broadly during the pandemic including (but not limited to) quality 
of care, health decisions and outcomes, direct and indirect costs, 
trust in the healthcare system and providers, and healthcare worker 
morale and safety, understand the unique role the information 
environment played in the societal response to the COVID-19 pandemic 
and implications for future public health emergencies, understand the 
impact of exposure to health misinformation and how access to trusted 
and credible health information, particularly during a public health 
emergency, impacts lifesaving health decisions such as an individual's

[[Page 12713]]

likelihood to vaccinate; and use the information requested to prepare 
for and respond to future public health crises. HHS will consider the 
usability, applicability, and rigor of submissions in response to this 
RFI and share learnings from these responses with the public. Public 
comments and submissions will also be made available to the public and 
can be used for research purposes.

DATES: To be assured consideration, comments must be received via the 
methods provided below, no later than midnight Eastern Time (ET) on May 
2, 2022. Submissions received after the deadline will not be reviewed.

ADDRESSES: You may send comments, identified by [Impact of Health 
Misinformation in the Digital Information Environment in the United 
States Throughout the COVID-19 Pandemic Request for Information (RFI)], 
by any of the following methods:
     Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov. 
Follow the instructions for sending comments.
     Form: [https://forms.office.com/g/kPPYHM15Uc].
     Email: [[email protected]]. Include [Impact of 
Health Misinformation in the Digital Information Environment in the 
United States Throughout the COVID-19 Pandemic Request for Information 
(RFI)] in the subject line of the message.
    You may respond to some or all of the topic areas covered in the 
RFI. You may also include links to online material or interactive 
presentations.
    For information on public comments, see the SUPPLEMENTARY 
INFORMATION section.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Max Lesko at [email protected] 
or at (202) 893-5020.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Please feel free to respond to as many 
topics as you choose. Responses should include the name of the person 
(s) or organization (s) filing the comment, as well as the respondent 
type (e.g., academic institution, advocacy group, professional society, 
community-based organization, industry, member of the public, 
government, and governmental entities such as libraries and public 
health departments. Respondent's role in the organization, as 
applicable, may also be provided (e.g., researcher, administrator, 
student, product manager, journalist) on a voluntary basis. Comments 
containing references, studies, research, and other empirical data that 
are not widely published should include electronic links to the 
referenced materials or be attached to the email. No proprietary 
business information, copyrighted information, or personally 
identifiable information should be submitted in response to this RFI. 
Listening sessions will be hosted to allow oral comments and 
submissions. Please be aware that all submissions will be reviewed and 
relevant comments submitted in direct response to the information 
requested in this RFI may be posted or otherwise released publicly.

I. Background

    1. Health misinformation--health information that is false, 
inaccurate, or misleading according to the best available evidence at 
the time--has been a challenge during public health emergencies before, 
including persistent rumors about HIV/AIDS that have undermined efforts 
to reduce infection rates in the U.S. and during the Ebola epidemic. 
But the speed, scale, and sophistication with which misinformation has 
been spread during the COVID-19 pandemic has been unprecedented. Recent 
research shows that most Americans believe or are unsure of at least 
one COVID-19 vaccine falsehood. The digital information environment is 
a phenomenon that requires further research and study to better prepare 
for future public health emergencies. This RFI seeks to understand both 
the impact of health misinformation during the COVID-19 pandemic and 
the unique role that technology and social media platforms play in the 
dissemination of critical health information during a public health 
emergency. The inputs from stakeholders will help inform future 
pandemic response in the context of an evolving digital information 
environment.

II. Scope and Assumptions

     The definition of health misinformation for the purposes 
of this RFI is health information that is false, inaccurate, or 
misleading according to the best available evidence at the time.
     Exposure is defined as seeing content in newsfeeds, in 
search results, or algorithmically nominated content.
     Potential exposure is the exposure users would have had if 
they could see all the content that is eligible to appear in their 
newsfeeds.
     Engagement includes the clicking or viewing of content, as 
well as reacting.
     Sharing is the act of sharing a piece of pre-existing 
content within social media.
     Technology platforms include the following: General search 
engines, content sharing platforms, social media platforms, e-commerce 
platforms, crowd sourced platforms, and instant messaging systems.
     Relevant dates for responses include January 2020-Present.
     Research, case studies, data sets, images, data 
visualizations, interviews, and personal testimonies may be submitted.
     All information should be provided at a level of 
granularity that preserves the privacy of users.
     If including data sets, please make the data available in 
a downloadable, machine-readable format with accompanying metadata.

III. Information Requested/Key Questions

    Please respond to specific topics where you have both expertise and 
sufficient evidence to support your comments. Respondents are requested 
to share objective results of an evaluation for each topic when 
possible. A response to every item is not required.

Information About Impact on Healthcare

    1. Information about how COVID-19 misinformation has affected 
quality of patient care during the pandemic.
    a. Information about how important a role COVID-19 misinformation 
played in patient decisions not to vaccinate, including the types of 
misinformation that influenced decisions.
    b. Information about the media sources from which patients are 
receiving misinformation and if such information has negatively 
influenced their healthcare decisions or resulted in patient harm.
    2. Information about how COVID-19 misinformation has impacted 
healthcare systems and infrastructure.
    a. Information about time and resources spent addressing COVID-19 
misinformation.
    b. Information about how COVID-19 misinformation has impacted 
healthcare worker morale and safety in the workplace, including 
instances of online harassment or harm.

2. Information About Technology Platforms

    3. Information about how widespread COVID-19 misinformation is on 
individual technology platforms including: General search engines, 
content sharing platforms, social media platforms, e-commerce 
platforms, crowd sourced platforms, and instant messaging systems.
    a. Starting with, but not limited to, these common examples of 
COVID-19 vaccine misinformation documented by the Centers for Disease 
Control and Prevention (CDC), any aggregate data

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and analysis on the prevalence of COVID-19 misinformation on individual 
platforms including exactly how many users saw or may have been exposed 
to instances of COVID-19 misinformation.
    b. Any aggregate data and analysis on how many users were exposed, 
were potentially exposed, or otherwise engaged with COVID-19 
misinformation.
    i. Exposure is defined as seeing content in newsfeeds, in search 
results, or algorithmically nominated content.
    ii. Potential exposure is the exposure users would have had if they 
could see all the content that is eligible to appear within their 
newsfeeds.
    iii. Engagement includes the clicking or viewing of content, as 
well as reacting. Sharing is the act of sharing a piece of pre-existing 
content within social media.
    c. Any aggregate data broken down by demographics on groups or 
populations who may have been differentially exposed to or impacted by 
COVID-19 misinformation.
    4. Information about COVID-19 misinformation policies on individual 
technology platforms.
    a. Any aggregate data and analysis of technology platform COVID-19 
misinformation policies including implementation of those policies and 
evaluations of their effectiveness.
    5. Information about sources of COVID-19 misinformation.
    a. Information about the major sources of COVID-19 misinformation 
associated with exposure.
    i. By source we mean both specific, public actors that are 
providing misinformation, as well as components of specific platforms 
that are driving exposure to information.
    6. Information about COVID-19 misinformation from sources engaged 
in the sale of unproven COVID-19 products or services (e.g., 
prescriptions for unapproved or unauthorized drugs, sales of 
alternative cures, or sales of other unapproved or unauthorized COVID-
19 medical products), or other money-making models.

Information About Impacted Communities

    7. Information about how COVID-19 misinformation has impacted 
individuals and communities.
    a. Information about how COVID-19 misinformation has impacted 
organizations that serve communities directly through service (e.g., 
libraries and food banks), and community-based organizations that are 
faith-based or provide affinity to communities (e.g., clubs and 
sororities or fraternities).
    b. Information about how COVID-19 misinformation has impacted 
community members: Individuals and families.

IV. How To Submit Your Response

    To facilitate review of your responses, please reference the 
subject of the RFI in your response. You may respond to some or all of 
the topic areas covered in the RFI, and you can suggest other factors 
or relevant questions. You may also include links to online material or 
interactive presentations. If including data sets, please make the data 
available in a downloadable, machine-readable format with accompanying 
metadata.
    Please note that this is a request for information (RFI) only. In 
accordance with the implementing regulations of the Paperwork Reduction 
Act of 1995 (PRA), specifically 5 CFR 1320.3(h)(4), this general 
solicitation is exempt from the PRA. Facts or opinions submitted in 
response to general solicitations of comments from the public, 
published in the Federal Register or other publications, regardless of 
the form or format thereof, provided that no person is required to 
supply specific information pertaining to the commenter, other than 
that necessary for self-identification, as a condition of the agency's 
full consideration, are not generally considered information 
collections and therefore not subject to the PRA.
    This RFI is issued solely for information and planning purposes; it 
does not constitute a Request for Proposal (RFP), applications, 
proposal abstracts, or quotations. This RFI does not commit the U.S. 
Government to contract for any supplies or services or make a grant 
award. Further, we are not seeking proposals through this RFI and will 
not accept unsolicited proposals. We note that not responding to this 
RFI does not preclude participation in any future procurement, if 
conducted. It is the responsibility of the potential responders to 
monitor this RFI announcement for additional information pertaining to 
this request.
    HHS may or may not choose to contact individual responders. Such 
communications would be for the sole purpose of clarifying statements 
in written responses. Contractor support personnel may be used to 
review responses to this RFI. Responses to this notice are not offers 
and cannot be accepted by the Government to form a binding contract or 
issue a grant. Information obtained as a result of this RFI may be used 
by the Government for program planning on a non-attribution basis. This 
RFI should not be construed as a commitment or authorization to incur 
cost for which reimbursement would be required or sought. All 
submissions become U.S. Government property; they will not be returned, 
and we may publish some of their content.

    Dated: March 2, 2022.
Max Lesko,
Chief of Staff, Office of the Surgeon General.
[FR Doc. 2022-04777 Filed 3-4-22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4150-28-P