Threats, personal attacks and damage to credibility. The law must protect doctors from being bullied online, demands the Canadian Medical Association.
If the phenomenon existed before the pandemic, it has gained momentum over the past 20 months. “Many doctors have spoken out in favor of promoting certain practices and have campaigned for certain causes,” explains Dr.r Abdo Shabah, emergency physician and spokesperson for the Canadian Medical Association. It got a lot of resistance from some people online. ”
Vaccination, among others, has been a topic at the heart of this cyberbullying. The efforts of some Internet users to undermine the credibility of doctors or reduce the scope of their message have gained momentum in recent times, underlines the emergency physician.
Justin Trudeau’s government must respond and make cyberbullying of doctors an offense under the Criminal Code of Canada, says Dr.r Shabah. Social media platforms are also challenged by the Canadian Medical Association, which wants them to develop an action plan to fight this phenomenon.
Cyberbullying helps misinformation gain traction, says Dr Shabah. “It’s something that discourages [les médecins] to get involved in social networks, to bring information and to avoid that there is false information circulating, he argues. The more you intimidate, the less these people want to get involved. “Health professionals are losing hope in their ability to change things, adds the emergency physician.
With the problems that plague the health network, such as access to family physicians, Dr Shabah fears that online bullying is exploding. “Beyond the pandemic, we think it will continue with all the stress that will be brought to the network level,” he says.
More details to come.