Threats, harassment, aggression: violence against media professionals has never been as strong as during the pandemic with the growth of conspiracy movements. But what are the solutions available to them to preserve their physical and mental health? This questioning was at the heart of discussions on Sunday, during the annual congress of the Professional Federation of Quebec Journalists (FPJQ).
“It must not be easy to be in your shorts and start your car, you gotta have the bitch. This is one of the many hateful messages that the journalist from Press Tristan Péloquin. Barely veiled threats since drawings of bombs accompanied these words.
“I can’t say I was scared because I suspected it was harmless. But in the long run, it had a psychological impact. [Ça] works me. I have become hypervigilant, I look around our house on the way out to make sure there is no car [qui me suit] », Said the journalist invited to speak during a panel on the subject.
At his side, the independent journalist Camille Lopez, who finds and deconstructs false news for different media, also told of experiencing harassment. A striking example? The “smear campaign” of which she was the victim on social networks after having published in News, in March 2020, an investigation into Maison Jacynthe which was promoting false treatments against the coronavirus.
Receiving hateful messages on a daily basis and having your name sullied on Twitter and Facebook has been a big boost to her morale, she says. So much so that she sometimes wonders if she should reformulate passages from her texts to avoid “a new wave of hatred”. “It’s not self-censorship, but I think twice before writing. “
The stories of Tristan Péloquin and Camille Lopez are far from being exceptions. In a recent Ipsos poll, conducted on behalf of a dozen media organizations across Canada, more than 70% of news professionals said they had been harassed in the past year. While cyberbullying is by far the most common form, physical attacks are becoming more common.
We also remember Kariane Bourassa, the TVA Nouvelles journalist who was hugged against her will by anti-mask protesters in the summer of 2020, live. His colleague Yves Poirier was intimidated and insulted several times when he was on the air, a protester having even thrown a can of beer in his direction.
“These are unacceptable behaviors […] and very worrying, ”lamented the president of the FPJQ, Michael Nguyen, who was also part of the panel. The one who is also a judicial journalist at Journal of Montreal was himself assaulted last November at the Montreal courthouse. A defendant “frustrated” to see a media presence to talk about his case kicked him. Prosecuted, the man recently pleaded guilty to assault.
Complaint, the solution?
“Do not hesitate to file a complaint,” advised its members Michael Nguyen, testifying from his own experience. In the past two years, one person has pleaded guilty to death threats against him and three others have signed contact bans following harassing behavior.
Camille Lopez was however skeptical of this avenue. She reported on the difficulty she encountered in 2018 when she wanted to file a complaint against a far-right sympathizer who had threatened her. He had to reveal his address to Internet users and encourage them to abuse her for the police to take his complaint seriously. “There are gaps in law enforcement, in the justice system. Me, I feel helpless sometimes [face] to what I get. “
Tristan Péloquin nevertheless believes that “a pandemic later, and with similar events, the police seem more attentive” to this type of file. For his part, he lodged a complaint against an anti-mask who had disseminated his phone number on social networks. His complaint resulted in a restraining order. The only problem is that the decision is ultimately against him: “He cannot approach me, so I can hardly cover events where he is present. “
To face it
Also invited to the discussion table, Jean-François Belzil, director of security at the International Women’s Media Foundation, proposed several initiatives to journalists to help them face the situation. For example, creating two Facebook accounts – changing the name of their personal account to prevent detractors from finding personal information about them – or using a phone specifically for work and keeping your personal number private. He also explained methods to check if one is being followed.
If employers are present to help their journalists, it is difficult to manage the responses they receive on Twitter or Facebook. This is the role of multinationals at the head of social networks, believes Michael Nguyen. “They have the means, with their algorithms, to create a filter themselves [pour lutter contre la haine]. You still have to succeed in convincing them to do so. “It’s still monetization, engagement, whatever the content, for them. “