Dr Jérôme Barrière, who has been fighting online medical misinformation for years, wonders. Should he continue his fight? “I do it for free, in my free time, because I believe in this cause,” he recalls. But this time it went too far. Since January 18, this cancer specialist has suffered intense cyberharassment because he criticized the rapper Booba for having shared with his 6.3 million subscribers on X (ex-Twitter), “content that is not based on any scientific data“. In this case, a video by Marc Doyer, spokesperson for the Verity France association, who accuses the Pfizer vaccine of having killed his wife, who died in 2022, by causing Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease.
The singer’s response to the oncologist is astonishing: “Shut up murderer!“, “Is the blow in your grandmother a barrier gesture?“. Thousands of Internet users take over, and Dr Barrière finds himself drowned under a flood of insults. The situation becomes even more grotesque when Didier Raoult, who had also accused anti-Covid vaccines of being “potentially responsible” of Creutzfeldt-Jakob, congratulates Booba with a “thanks for the support, little brother“. It must be said that Jérôme Barrière is one of the doctors who contributed, through their investigations, to bringing down the former director of the IHU from his pedestal…
“This affair is not anecdotal, but very significant of online disinformation, because it brings together all its ingredients,” notes Laurent Cordonier, research director of the Descartes Foundation. First with the personal drama of Marc Doyer, who rejects chance – a classic cognitive bias – and sees a cause and effect link where there is only a coincidence. “Next comes the exploitation of this sentence by the complosphere: this shows a form of structuring of this environment which jumps on each singular case to nourish its narrative,” continues the researcher.
The affair could have ended there, but it changes dimension by being taken over by what Laurent Cordonier calls a super-spreader, a public figure whose audience goes well beyond the conspiratorial spheres. In this case, Booba and his millions of subscribers, who a priori follow him more for his music than for his scientific knowledge. “He also has a form of moral authority as an artist and a legitimacy acquired in his fight against influencer scams,” underlines the sociologist. The algorithms, which favor content arousing the strongest emotions (indignation, anger), and the absence of moderation from X did the rest.
“In this type of situation, disinformation wins the battle of doubt, assures Laurent Cordonier. The population will probably not massively adhere to the thesis according to which the vaccine transmits Creutzfeldt-Jakob, but some will be more inclined to believe that they are being hide things, lie to them.” Distrust of science, medicine and authorities is reinforced. “The growing suspicion is a danger for democracy,” worries Mathieu Molimard, head of the medical pharmacology department at Bordeaux University Hospital. This fear, shared by all defenders of scientific rationality, explains the broad support received by the column written in reaction to this affair, which L’Express publishes exclusively. She also explains their commitment, despite the blows received.
“I refuse that obscurantism wins and that we allow anyone to say anything, that fear takes power and that we say ‘better to keep silent’ – we would all lose,” confirms Jérôme Barrière, who denounces lack of involvement and support from the authorities. “Health institutions should do more, that’s for sure, corroborates Laurent Cordonier. Even if their action would probably be less convincing than that of doctors and researchers who symbolize this fight, because they are disembodied.” The political reaction is also awaited. This is why all eyes are turning to the law against sectarian abuses, currently being discussed in the National Assembly. “Elected officials watched the train go by during the Covid crisis, underlines Mathieu Molimard. It is time that they grasp the issue and finally tackle these abuses.”