TikToks promoting 'dangerous’ sunscreen misinformation attract more engagement

TikTok videos promoting ‘dangerous’ sunscreen misinformation attract ‘comparatively’ high levels of audience engagement, a new study has found.

Researchers analysed the content from 971 TikTok videos across five popular sunscreen-related hashtags and found that videos critiquing sunscreen – including claims that sunscreen is toxic, cancer-causing, or blocks the health benefits of sun exposure – generated significantly more likes, shares and comments.

The team attributed this ‘concerning’ trend to the viral potential of shock-provoking content, but said that repeated exposure to this sort of misinformation increases its believability.

Authors of the study, published in PLOS Digital Health on Thursday, said: ‘Sunscreen misinformation on TikTok constitutes an area of concern not for the total sum of overarching influence in terms of content production but rather in how strongly some sunscreen misinformation ideas resonated among particular audiences.’

‘Our analysis showed TikTok is not necessarily flooded with sunscreen misinformation, but TikToks which dangerously claim that sunscreen is harmful or unnecessary receive comparatively high levels of audience engagement,’ they added.

Overall, most of the videos included in the study promoted sunscreen use (86.8%) with only 6% containing health-related critique such as claims that sunscreen causes harm (1.2%) or prevents health benefits like vitamin D absorption (1.2%).

Yet even the content promoting sunscreen was ‘heavily focused on cosmetic benefits’ as opposed to reducing skin cancer risk, with only 6% explicitly mentioning this, the researchers found.

They said: ‘TikTok content creators commonly promoted sunscreen as part of skincare regimens where sunscreen benefits were more commonly related to beauty rather than health.

‘It was surprising to see so many TikToks promoting sunscreen use without specifically mentioning the important role it plays in cancer prevention. Only 6% of the TikToks analysed explicitly mentioned the benefits of reducing the risk of skin cancer.’

The researchers urged public health agencies to increase surveillance capacity to observe emerging trends in problematic information and determine the extent of these issues.

They also said their study revealed a ‘missed opportunity’ to communicate the important health benefits of sunscreen at a time when melanoma skin cancer cases in the UK have reached a record high.

The findings come as a Boots launched campaign with England footballer Dan Burn to raise awareness around protecting the back of the neck from the sun to prevent skin disease.

Men are three times more likely to develop melanoma on the neck and scalp than women and account for around 80% of all new cases of melanoma on the neck each year, NHS England data shows.

To tackle the issue, the health and beauty retailer has launched the social media campaign ‘Dan Won’t Burn’ to remind people to apply sunscreen to the back of their neck and encourage better sun protection.

Meanwhile, the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) yesterday issued an updated heat-health alert for parts of England until Thursday evening, warning that rising temperatures may increase health risks, particularly for vulnerable groups.

A version of this article was first published by our sister title The Pharmacist