New media as a tool for health education and modeling the behavior of contemporary society – threats

The development of new media has significantly transformed the way individuals acquire health information and shape pro-health attitudes and behaviors. The aim of this article is to analyze the role of new media in health education and to identify the risks associated with their use in the context of public health and social security. Due to their interactivity, accessibility, and broad reach, new media constitute an effective tool for disseminating health knowledge, promoting prevention, and modeling health-promoting behaviors. At the same time, they pose numerous risks, including the spread of health misinformation, the promotion of unverified treatment methods, the medicalization of everyday life, digital media dependency, and a reduced ability to critically evaluate information. These phenomena may negatively affect society’s health security, weaken trust in healthcare institutions, and lead to unfavorable health decisions. The article also emphasizes the importance of media literacy as a key factor in protecting individuals from information-related threats and highlights the need to integrate health education with media literacy education. Modern health policy should treat new media both as a valuable tool supporting health promotion and as an area requiring monitoring, regulation, and preventive measures to minimize social and health-related risks.