Investigations to follow ‘dangerous’ deep fake article featuring former Health Ombud
PICTURE: Nataliya Vaitkevich/Pexels
Former Health Ombud Professor Malegapuru Makgoba intends pursuing legal and forensic investigations after an online article claimed he had discovered a ‘natural’ cure for diabetes.
He said he had never conducted diabetes research, and that the misinformation had caused unnecessary alarm among people who have the disease, reports News24.
His outrage comes after a health products website claimed he had been interviewed and had recommended that people with type 2 diabetes stop taking the medication metformin in favour of a ‘new all-natural drug’.
It claimed that the new drug, comprising ‘entirely natural ingredients’ to ensure fewer side effects, had been developed at the University of the Witwatersrand five years ago.
Makgoba also shared a link with News24 of a video containing information that supported the claims in the published article.
He said the contents were not only false, fraudulent and malicious, but dangerous and a misrepresentation of the truth
‘I categorically distance myself from the contents and information contained. I have never given such an interview, nor have I ever I conducted such research at Wits or any other institution. Diabetes has never been an area of my research interest and expertise.’
The professor had been alerted to the article by diabetics who ‘read everything’ about the disease, and he has received numerous messages people wanting more information about the supposed discovery.
‘This is serious and dangerous misinformation, because diabetes is a very common condition in this country,’ Makgoba said, adding that the posts also revealed ‘the down side of artificial intelligence’.
- This article first appeared in News24 here and was then published here
- Material extracted for inclusion in MedicalBrief is chosen on editorial merit and relevance to the health sector. All sources are acknowledged and, where possible, links are provided to the full, original published content. No endorsement of republished content is implied but where errors are identified, they will be corrected
- A deepfake video has also circulated on social media of 2021 Nobel Peace Prize laureate Maria Ressa, co-founder and CEO of Filipino online news site Rappler, allegedly promoting a Type 2 Diabetes cure. This is false. See here
- Here’s what you need to know about diabetes in South Africa
