Welcome to Reality Check, NewsGuard’s nonpartisan newsletter that tracks the false claims and conspiracy theories that shape our world — and who’s behind them. Please support us by becoming a premium member or sharing our work.
NewsGuard’s “False Claim of the Week” highlights a claim from NewsGuard’s False Claim Fingerprints, a proprietary database of provably false claims and their debunks. The claim that sunscreen causes skin cancer is NewsGuard’s “False Claim of the Week” due to its widespread appearance across social media platforms and websites, its high engagement levels, and the high-profile nature of the sources promoting it. Those three factors, as well as its significant subject matter and potential for harm, make it our False Claim of the Week.
What’s happening: Health misinformation sources are claiming that sunscreen causes skin cancer, misinterpreting a November 2023 U.K. study that found higher rates of skin cancer among people who reported frequent use of sunscreen.
In fact, the study did not conclude that sunscreen causes cancer. Rather, the authors explicitly cautioned that their “paradoxical finding” was likely explained by factors such as sunscreen users exposing themselves to UV light more frequently or inadequately applying sunscreen.
A closer look: While the claim that sunscreen causes skin cancer has circulated online for years, in recent weeks, health skeptics have been pointing to the November 2023 study, published in the peer-reviewed journal...
Welcome to Reality Check, NewsGuard’s nonpartisan newsletter that tracks the false claims and conspiracy theories that shape our world — and who’s behind them. Please support us by becoming a premi...