Read on Twitter
Definitely worth a read & resonates closely with my experience (& what I've seen happen to colleagues). Unfortunately, these groups play an important role in shaping & maintaining narratives not grounded in evidence through ad hominem attacks against anyone challenging these.
https://twitter.com/jljcolorado/status/1357737374621515776
https://twitter.com/jljcolorado/status/1357737374621515776
Calling out this behaviour is important- given the huge influence it has on scientific messaging, and potentially policy. It's also important to make scientists aware of this, so they can pick it up early when its happening and call it out (it took me a while to figure this out).
If you are more caught up with tone policing someone calling out repeated false claims from scientists with prominent platforms in the midst of a pandemic, rather than being concerned about misinforming the public in the midst of pandemic, you probably need to reflect on why.
Unfortunately the 5% here, despite being a small minority with potentially fringe views are essentially shaping much of the narrative around these aspects, across the public consciousness, the media & policy makers. This is why it is crucial to address this.
My personal experience with this has made me realise how difficult it is to maintain resilience in the face of these attacks, and I know that it does have a silencing effect, given the huge personal cost many researchers face of just discussing facts on media.
The media & journals also need to be made aware of this, as many reputable media and some medical journals repeatedly platform the 5% and repeat unevidenced claims as true without scrutiny of the evidence further worsening misinformation around these issues.
I also had a policy of not blocking scientists until now- as I feel its important to openly discuss evidence and debate this, but I don't tolerate personal attacks - and I feel scientists should be able to share evidence and discuss facts without fear of reprisal.
