Ethical Issues in the Use of Social Media in the Health Sector (Raboan Disussion Forum)

The Center for Bioethics and Medical Humanities (CBMH UGM) on Wednesday (16/11) held a Raboan Discussion Forum with the theme of Ethics Problems in the Use of Social Media related to Health. The theme was delivered by the speaker Prof. Dra. Yayi Surya Prabandari Ph.D. Meanwhile, the discussion forum was led by dr. Wika Hartini MIH as moderator.

Prof. Yayi sees that social media is now increasingly being used by practitioners in the health sector. The use of social media is very diverse but in general social media is a platform so that users can connect and share with each other. Some examples of the use of social media include Blogs, Networking Sites, Media Sharing Sites, Wikis, and so on.

Social media has both positive and negative sides. A positive example of the use of social media in the health sector is to be able to disseminate health education. On the other hand, social media also has a negative side that has the potential to violate ethical principles.

According to Prof. Yayi, the use of social media needs to be based on careful consideration. The use of social media creates the potential for misuse of data by irresponsible third parties. Personally owned data that is distributed through social media is prone to be used by third parties without the permission of the data owner.

“When we have an account there are some things we share that can be used without permission. For example, for marketing activities,” said Prof. Yayi.

This can be overcome by reading in detail the terms and conditions when creating a social media account. So that users can understand social media policies in protecting user privacy.

Apart from privacy concerns, Prof. Yayi also presented ethical issues by professional health practitioners. With social media, doctors also have the opportunity to spread health education to the public. Prof. Yayi gave an example of a doctor on Instagram who made a post about the condition of his patient’s illness. According to Prof. Yes, these activities are allowed when they are intended for educational purposes. However, doctors must be aware that there are ethical guidelines that need to be observed because they involve the patient’s personal data.

Prof. Yayi explained that there need to be standards that doctors and health care providers can adhere to in the use of social media so that there are no violations in maintaining the confidentiality and privacy of patient data.

Full video can be accessed here