Insulted, threatened caregivers: just last week, the Martinique prefecture lodged a complaint after threats suffered by vaccinated caregivers. Since the start of the Covid-19 crisis, many scientists have been subject to “digital lynchings” on social networks for their position in favor of vaccination, the mask or the health pass.
Some even file a complaint for death threats. This is the case of Hélène Rossinot, public health doctor. Very active on social networks, she answers questions from her subscribers. And a few months ago, a tweet in favor of wearing a mask at school earned him thousands of messages of hostility. “I got messages like ‘Your face will be remembered when you don’t think about it’, ‘You will be stuck in an alley’, or messages that outright called for my murder, in various ways … “, explains Hélène Rossinot.
“While doing medicine, I never imagined going to the police station one day to file a death threat complaint. Just for letting people know on Twitter.”
Helene Rossinotto franceinfo
For Jean-Paul Ortiz, president of the Confederation of Medical Unions, there is no question of letting this intimidation pass, while he himself has become one of the targets of opponents of vaccination. And he therefore filed a complaint for public insult and defamation. “I really saw a turn after the speech of the President of the Republic of July 12, which I greeted because I found that it was finally a clear speech in favor of vaccination with the establishment of the health pass, he indicates. From that point on, the insults got much harsher and we were called Gestapo, Nazis. “
“When I am told to go rot in hell, I still consider it an extremely serious threat.”
Jean-Paul Ortizto franceinfo
These invectives are not only done on social networks and can also be heard in vaccination centers, hospitals and sometimes even between caregivers. This is what we have observed in recent days at the Martinique University Hospital, where unions oppose the health pass. “It is a situation of really strong tension within the hospital, sighs Benjamin Garel, the director of the establishment, who calls for calm to his teams. This can be via social networks or visually, or during a meeting that is interrupted. It may be by just passing people, or entering the hospital, that you are faced with insults or death threats. “ The prefect of Martinique lodged a complaint last week.
Complaints are increasing, but it is difficult to know how many caregivers have been targeted. The annual survey of the Council of the Order on the safety of doctors could give in the coming months an overview of the extent of the phenomenon. For its part, the review Nature conducted its own survey of 300 scientists from the United States, England and Australia. Almost a quarter of them explain having been the subject of threats and 40% admit to having suffered from psychological distress which dissuades them from speaking again in the media.
It is precisely to avoid being silent that some have come together in a collective such as Citizen for Science, an association founded by Fabienne Blum, who has worked for a long time in the pharmaceutical industry and who has herself been the victim of threats. With her association, she denounces a lack of reaction from the government. “We are still in an unprecedented situation: the Covid crisis has created mistrust of science, scientists, Fabienne Blum notes. In particular, for example, the mistrust of medical researchers who are forced to work with industry, otherwise we could not develop drugs. As soon as they talk about a drug, she continues, it is inevitably because the laboratory bought them to promote it: they are completely invented stories that we did not see before. “
Some complaints have already given rise to investigations, but anonymity on social networks must still be lifted. Benjamin Peiffer-Smadja is an infectious disease specialist and from the start of the health crisis, he was targeted, especially during the debate on hydroxychloroquine. “Twitter refused to waive anonymity but Facebook did so at the prosecutor’s request, indicates the latter. So we have the identification of a few people who have been involved in this. There were two doctors, a physiotherapist and people from civil society … “ At the same time, the infectious disease specialist sued the two doctors and the physiotherapist before the disciplinary court of the Order of Physicians, a procedure still ongoing.