Over the past few days, the public has been discussing the enforcement actions taken against medical content creators. Some argue that the measures are excessive, while others question whether they are fair when compared to other KOLs who produce content that may also be considered harmful to society.
Today, doctors, pharmacists, and other healthcare professionals can reach millions of people through social media, with many of them becoming influential KOLs in the process. While this has expanded access to health information, it also raises an important policy question: how should healthcare content be regulated to ensure that regulation is neither too weak nor overly restrictive?
In fact, healthcare content cannot be left entirely unregulated. Doing so would create an environment where misinformation, unverified claims, and potentially harmful advice can spread freely, posing risks to public health. More importantly, some products promoted through such content may harm consumers, particularly supplements and medications that make exaggerated or unsupported claims.
At the same time, regulation cannot be so rigid that it discourages qualified professionals from creating content, delays responses to emerging health issues, or creates unnecessary administrative burdens. Any regulatory framework should therefore be guided by the principle of balance, while taking into account the country's social, economic, and technological realities.
Any regulatory framework should therefore be guided by the principle of balance while taking into account the country's social, economic, and technological realities.
Require those providing professional healthcare advice to have relevant expertise and qualifications. This is relatively simple to implement and can serve as a practical starting point.
Require healthcare content to be reviewed before publication. While this may improve quality control, it would be costly, time-consuming, and could delay important health information.
Combine qualification requirements with content approval. In practice, this would likely create significant administrative burdens and reduce the availability of useful health content.
For these reasons, Option 1 is the most practical starting point.
Individuals or organizations providing healthcare-related professional advice should hold recognized qualifications in medicine, public health, pharmacy, nursing, or related fields.
Regulators could create a verification system for qualified healthcare content creators and maintain a public registry of verified individuals and organizations.
This would help prevent false claims of expertise and make trustworthy sources easier to identify.
Verified creators should sign a one-time commitment agreement and be free to publish content without prior approval.
Regulators would retain the authority to require corrections, remove content, suspend verification status, or impose penalties for violations.
This approach encourages valuable educational content while maintaining accountability.
China provides a useful example. In late 2025, the Cyberspace Administration of China introduced rules requiring creators in sensitive fields such as medicine, finance, and law to verify their professional credentials before providing professional advice.
The policy distinguishes between sharing personal experiences and giving professional advice. For example, discussing daily habits is permitted, but medical recommendations require verified qualifications.