When Data Becomes Disinformation: A Call for Ethical Analytics
Spend five minutes scrolling through social media and you’ll find them, the modern-day prophets of certainty. They come wrapped in credentials that feel comforting at first glance - MD, PhD, CEO. They present themselves as brave truth-tellers, standing against the “mainstream narrative.” And with hundreds of thousands of followers, their words echo far beyond their original posts.
Like the self-branded doctor with more than 100,000 followers claimed that the CDC was being sued for “pushing an untested 72-dose vaccine schedule on American children.” The framing was dramatic, even apocalyptic. It cast the government as corrupt, public health agencies as negligent, and vaccines as the root cause of a supposed epidemic of autoimmunity. The post garnered thousands of likes and comments, sparking heated debate.
At first glance, it looked like an expert bravely speaking out. But peel back the layers and the reality was different. Cherry-picked information, misleading framing, and selective omissions. The post didn’t exist to protect health, it existed to capture attention and eventually, wallets. After stoking fear, the doctor ended with a classic lead funnel pitch, “Comment AUTO and I’ll send you my Autoimmunity Recovery Framework.”
This is not an isolated incident. It is a business model. Fear creates engagement. Engagement grows followers. Followers become leads. And leads become buyers.
It would be easy to dismiss this as a problem unique to public health. But that would miss the point. This isn’t about vaccines. It’s about disinformation and how data, when stripped of context, becomes a weapon.
The Anatomy of Disinformation
To understand why this matters for business, we first need to break down how disinformation works.
1. Fear as the Hook
Fear is the most reliable way to hold attention. Outrage spreads faster than accuracy, and platforms are built to reward virality, not nuance.
2. Authority as the Shield
When claims are backed by someone with credentials like doctor, professor, or even just a CEO title in their bio, people instinctively give those claims more weight. The authority may be genuine or it may be manufactured, but the impact is the same, it lowers our defenses.
3. Incentive as the Engine
No one is creating this content out of altruism. Behind every dramatic claim is an incentive: Clicks, ad revenue, product sales, political power. Fear is used as a lead funnel.
Once you see these three ingredients (fear, authority, incentive) you start to notice them everywhere. In finance, we’ve seen self-proclaimed “market gurus” hype dubious investment schemes. In technology, companies have exaggerated the capabilities of AI tools, knowing sensational promises generate both attention and venture capital. Even in day-to-day business reporting, numbers are often massaged or framed selectively to support a pre-determined story.
This problem isn’t limited to bad actors on social media. It’s systemic. Any place where data exists, disinformation can take root.
Analysts as Gatekeepers of Truth
This is where analytics comes in.
Analysts hold a unique position inside organizations. We are the translators of raw data into human understanding. Executives rarely see the messy reality of the numbers, they see the stories we craft from them. Stakeholders don’t pore over data tables, they rely on our dashboards and slide decks.
That power comes with pressure. Pressure to hit quarterly targets. Pressure to confirm a leader’s intuition. Pressure to produce “insights” that sound compelling in a boardroom. In those moments, the temptation to omit inconvenient context or to frame numbers in the most favorable light can be overwhelming.
The Instagram doctor exploited this dynamic in the public sphere. Analysts can fall into similar traps in the corporate sphere. A selective data cut here, a de-emphasis of uncertainty there and suddenly a misleading narrative takes hold.
The difference is subtle but an omission can be as misleading as a lie.
That is why analysts are not just technicians. We are gatekeepers of trust. And if we allow ourselves to become marketers of disinformation, intentionally or not, we risk eroding the very credibility that gives analytics its value.
Why Ethics Cannot Be Optional
In business, ethics is often treated as an afterthought, a compliance checklist item rather than a guiding principle. Analytics is no exception. We talk endlessly about tools, methodologies, and frameworks, but far less about values.
This is a dangerous omission. Because the cost of ignoring ethics in analytics is not theoretical:
Trust is eroded. Once stakeholders realize numbers are spun, they stop believing any numbers.
Decisions are distorted. Actions taken on the basis of manipulated data rarely lead to sustainable results.
Reputations are damaged. Organizations caught presenting misleading analytics face long-term credibility loss.
Consider the broader world. When public trust in science erodes due to disinformation, lives are put at risk. In business, when trust in analytics erodes, organizations revert to gut instinct, politics, or whoever has the loudest voice. In both cases, the result is the same: poorer decisions, real harm.
If analysts don’t define the ethical boundaries of our work, no one else will. Executives will push for better numbers. Platforms will reward whatever drives engagement. Incentives will always bend toward narrative over nuance.
Which means it falls on us, the analysts, to insist on integrity.
The 33 Sticks Manifesto for Ethical Analytics
At 33 Sticks, we believe analytics must be rooted not just in skill, but in ethics. We refuse to let data be reduced to a marketing prop or a weapon of manipulation.
Our manifesto is simple but uncompromising:
Objectivity over persuasion.
Without objectivity, the true value of data is lost. We will not sacrifice clarity for spin.Context as non-negotiable.
Data without context is incomplete at best and misleading at worst. We will always provide the “why” behind the numbers, not just the numbers themselves.Transparency in communication.
We will show our sources, methods, and assumptions. Real expertise does not hide its process.Courage in dissent.
When pressured to manipulate data for convenience, we will say no. Integrity matters more than comfort.Commitment to education.
We will not only deliver analysis but also teach others to recognize disinformation inside and outside the business world.
A Call to the Analytics Community
The Instagram doctor’s post may seem like a public health problem, but it is also a mirror. It shows us what happens when authority is abused, when context is stripped, and when incentives overpower integrity.
For analysts, the lesson is clear, disinformation is not confined to politics, media, or health. It can take root in our dashboards, reports, and presentations. Every time we let convenience outweigh accuracy, we contribute to the same erosion of trust.
The future of analytics depends not just on better tools, but on better values. On whether we choose to be guardians of truth or agents of persuasion.
At 33 Sticks, we’ve made our choice. We will walk the harder path of objectivity, transparency, and context. We invite others to walk it with us.
Because in the end, this isn’t about vaccines. It’s about trust. And trust is the most valuable currency any analyst, any organization, or any industry can hold.
When you next encounter a data point that feels too dramatic, too certain, or too neatly packaged, pause. Ask: What context is missing? What incentive is at play? Who benefits from this framing?
Those questions are not just for social media skeptics. They are for all of us. Analysts, executives, business leaders. Because the line between information and disinformation is not always bold and clear, sometimes it is thin, subtle, and easy to cross.
And once crossed, the damage to trust is not easily repaired.
Work With 33 Sticks
At 33 Sticks, we help organizations navigate data with clarity, objectivity, and ethical responsibility. If your team is ready to build a culture of analytics rooted in trust, not spin, we’d love to talk.
Reach out to us at 33sticks.com/contact to start the conversation.
