Ethical and legal perspectives on the medical practitioners use of social media
Open accessAbstract
Use of social media has increased exponentially throughout the world. Social media provides a platform for building social and professional relationships that can be used by all, including healthcare professionals. Alongside the benefits of creating networks and spreading information wider and faster than is possible with traditional communication channels, however, it presents ethical and legal challenges. For health professionals, it poses a threat to confidentiality and privacy owed to patients, colleagues and employers. It is vital for health professionals to acknowledge that the same ethical and legal standards apply both online and offline, and that they are accountable to professional bodies and the law for their online activities. This article seeks to explore the ethical and legal pitfalls facing health professionals using social media platforms. Importantly, it seeks to create awareness about the cyberpsychology phenomenon called the 'online disinhibition effect', responsible for lowering restraint during online activities.
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Numerous studies emphasized the importance of structured education and the implementation of guidelines on the professional usage of social media among healthcare students and professionals.
“This finding is also supported by numerous studies [5, 8, 10, 21, 22, 33–38] which emphasized the importance of structured education and the implementation of guidelines on the professional usage of social media among healthcare students and professionals.”
From Future healthcare providers and professionalism on social media: a cross-sectional study (2022) · cites this paper as [5]
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- Authors
- Kubheka, B.
- Affiliations
- University of the Witwatersrand (ZA)
- Corresponding author
- Kubheka, Brenda
- ORCID
- Kubheka, Brenda
- Venue
- South African Medical Journal
- Published
- 2017-04-25
- Volume
- 107
- Issue
- 5
- Pages
- 386
- ISSN
- 0256-9574 (ISSN-L)
- 2078-5135
- OpenAlex
- W2608590505
- Cited by
- 32
- References
- 10
- Citations by year
- 2026: 2 · 2025: 2 · 2024: 5 · 2023: 5 · 2022: 4 · 2021: 2 · 2020: 5 · 2019: 1 · 2018: 4 · 2017: 2
- FWCI
- 3.64
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- doi.org
- Licence
- cc-by-nc
- Locations
- South African Medical Journal (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Health › Social Media in Health Education
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Medical and Health Sciences Research
- Health Sciences › Health Professions › General Health Professions › Health, Medicine and Society
- Keywords
- social media, physicians, professional ethics, legal liability, confidentiality, patient privacy, online disinhibition effect, professional accountability, professional associations, cyberpsychology
- MeSH terms
- Professionalism, Confidentiality, Health Personnel, Humans, Professional-Patient Relations, South Africa, Internet, Professional Role, Social Media
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