Gen Z warned against using social media to search for 'treatments' (2025)

Gen Z has been warned against using social mediato search for dangerouscancercures and treatments as the majority of those touted by influencers could be fake, a study has shown.

As many as 81 per cent of cancer cures mentioned in studied posts onTikTokwere fake, according to the research. The remaining 19 per cent either shared legitimate medical advice, saw people making satirical videos or commemorated someone who had passed away from the disease.

Researcher Dr Alice Baker emphasised this is just an initial study, of only 200 posts, and cannot be considered representative of all content on the platform. She also only looked at TikTok - when the problem affects other short-form video platforms too.

But the reader in sociology at City St George's, University of London, told MailOnline the study does reveal a 'broader issue' with cancer misinformation on social media: 'The issue I find very concerning is that people are looking for a miracle cure and you do have certain creators who can exploit that.'

Her work found a whole range of bizarre, unsuitable products were being promoted by online creators as cures for cancer - including soursop herbal tea, oregano oil, apricot kernels and even dog dewormer, which is unsafe for human consumption.

Even just a quick search on social media by MailOnline brings up videos recommending similar strange alternative therapies - like cannabis oil, lemon juice in hot water and mysterious psychological approaches like 'subconscious reprogramming' and 'mindset healing'.

TikTok influencer and four-time cancer survivor Shell Rowe, 25, of Billericay, Essex, told MailOnline she thought any videos promoting these so-called 'cures' were 'disgusting', as a patient in remission for three years herself.

The influencer, who has nearly 900,000 followers on her account made to create a positive community for fellow patients, said: 'When you're put in a position of desperation and you don't know where else to turn, you don't know what you're willing to try and that's what people are possibly taking advantage of.'

Dr Baker, who has been studying health and wellness information for a decade, said: 'The point is there is just a very high volume of content creators who are promoting really harmful products and discouraging people from having treatment.'

And it is not just TikTok either, she said - but many social media sites that enable short-form video content.

This is because the nature of these platforms is that users are presented with content both from people they follow and those they do not.

This exposes them to a large volume of content, including things they have not actively asked to see.

This, together with the endless feed of short videos, enables misinformation to circulate at a much greater scale.

'Even though these platforms are often presented as standard entertainment platforms', she explained, studies have shown young people also use them as search engines, for researching and finding information - including about cancer.

Google is not the preferred search engine for 18-to-24-year-olds - but rather 67 per cent use Instagram and 62 per cent use TikTok, with Google in third at 61 per cent, according toa survey of around 1,000 Americans from last year by marketing technology firm SOCI.

Dr Baker said: 'Globally, these platforms are being used for both entertainment and search and so it makes the need to have reliable information on these platforms much more important.'

She did, however, emphasise this is just an initial study, of only 200 posts, and cannot be considered representative of all content on the platform. She also only looked at TikTok - when the problem affects other short-form video platforms too.

Another major issue, Dr Baker said, is creators potentially profiting off promoting unproven cancer cures.

Creators can use 'very accessible "link in bio" tools now', she said, to easily provide viewers with a hyperlink they can immediately click on to go to a website selling the product they are promoting.

In some cases, users clicking on a creator's link can mean the creator then earns some money for having advertised that product.

Dr Baker said: 'It's much easier for people to monetise their content with very little effort because they don't require a large following to gain public attention.'

It means creators can find themselves earning money from promoting unproven cancer cures - even if they do not have a lot of followers.

The monetisation of content was not something she set out to study - but it ended up being her 'biggest argument' because 'it was just so prevalent': 'Overwhelmingly, creators were monetising cures.'

TikTok creator Ms Rowe has, since 2019, had non-Hodgkin lymphoma four times.

It's a type of cancer that develops in the lymphatic system, which is part of the body's immune defence. She has undergone around seven different types of treatment.

The creator, who has been cancer-free for three years and still makes videos on the TikTok page she made to discuss her diagnosis, has not encountered misinformed cancer cures herself online - but agreed young people who use social media for search could be at risk of seeing that kind of content.

She said: 'I use TikTok like a search engine now as well, I use it for everything - if I'm planning a holiday, "What should I do here?" Every little question I might have. I use it as if it were Google really.'

And if information comes from a creator a viewer has watched for a long time, that could be especially harmful: 'What happens if the information comes from someone that you might trust, that you have a parasocial relationship with?

'I'm not saying those people are going to be dishonest, I just encourage people to have their wits about them, to always have curiosity and question things and fact-check them because anyone can become vulnerable to a scam.'

She said: 'Please speak to your medical team because they will know better and they can give you unbiased advice.

'They are not making commission – they will give you real, legitimate, medical advice.'

It comes after the issue of misinformed cancer cures promoted online got renewed attention earlier this year, with the release of a Netflix series called Apple Cider Vinegar.

It retells the true story of an Australian influencer named Belle Gibson, who was exposed in 2015 as a fraud after falsely claiming to have beaten cancer using nutrition and alternative medicine.

Gibson's case inspired Dr Baker to research this issue in the first place - and made a real impact on Ms Rowe when she watched it:'Promising a cure to people who are utterly desperate, hopeless, it's disgusting to take advantage of people in these positions because I've been a person in that position.

'I know how vulnerable and desperate you can feel.'

Watching the TV show, she said: 'It was absolutely gut-wrenching. And my partner and I were just in bits thinking, "That could have happened to me, easily".

'You think, "Oh, I'll be savvy to this" - when you're put in a position of desperation and you don't know where else to turn, you don't know what you're willing to try and that's what people are possibly taking advantage of.'

Ms Rowe underwent around seven types of treatment for cancer in total - and their gruelling nature means she thinks she might not have been capable of making a good choice for herself, if she had been confronted with any of this kind of content at the time.

She said: 'You're not necessarily thinking rationally - you're on a lot of medication, a lot of drugs anyway. There were times I couldn't string a sentence together, there were times where I was not capable of a real critical thought like that.

'And I would like to think that I'm quite an intelligent person, I'm quite a savvy person, but there were times where I just could not string a sentence together.

'If you're catching people in those moments of vulnerability, then it's dangerous.'

In fact, she did experience a moment, in a different context, when she nearly made a decision that was wrong for her because she said her treatment was affecting her ability to think straight.

At one stage, she had CAR-T cell therapy, which sees the body's immune cells modified to fight cancer. It left her with severe brain swelling, she said:'Even though my brain was there, my body just wasn't responsive… I couldn't do anything, I was somewhat aware but I could not get any words out.'

She could not think straight to the extent she nearly signed away the rights to some of her social media content - which she had only just started making at that point - without properly considering it:'Just something in me said, "Hold off for a few more days until the swelling has completely gone down".

'So, I've certainly been in a position in a different sense where I've thought that I'm not going to be caught out - I've done a degree, I'm clever, I've got my wits about me, all this - but it happens, you're on a lot of drugs.'

And when it comes to an online space, she said: 'I can potentially see the appeal of feeling like you're a part of something, you're part of a community.

'Someone's saying, "Oh, I've got this cure", and it's almost like you've got this insider knowledge and you're a part of something and you're in this club, and, "We know stuff that other people don't".

'You're being sold this dream and you so want to believe it and there's maybe a sense of community there of, "We're all going on this health kick".'

She advised fellow patients to be savvy and always 'speak to your medical team': 'Be serious, question, fact-check, don't just take anything at face value because it's your body at the end of the day.'

A TikTok spokesperson said: 'We are proud that TikTok is a place where our community can share their own stories or experiences about medical treatment but do not allow harmful medical misinformation on our platform.

'We also work closely with independent fact checkers to verify content and partners, including the World Health Organization to promote reliable health content.'