“The vaccine prevents transmission? Liar.” In a concise tweet, rapper Booba targeted Jérôme Barrière, an oncologist from Cagnes-sur-Mer (Alpes-Maritimes), very active on social networks.
Thursday January 18, the doctor reacted to a tweet from the rapper who broadcast a video establishing a cause and effect link between the Covid vaccine and the appearance of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease. For this tweet. he was publicly thanked by Didier Raoult who defends this thesis, going against the scientific literature on the subject.
“You share content that is not based on any serious scientific data,” Jérôme Barrière warned in response to Booba. Your account is followed by millions of people. Don’t you think you should maintain some reserve before giving your opinion on a subject you don’t understand? Thanks in advance. Sincerely.”
Since then, Jérôme Barrière has been called an “assassin” by Booba and hundreds of anonymous haters have rushed to his messaging, he confided to Le Parisien. “90% of the reactions to my messages are hateful and critical,” he explains. Sometimes defamatory.”
Jérôme Barrière, who explains “having bad nights”, questions his role on Elon Musk’s social network. He fears that an “illuminated person”, among Booba’s six million followers, will go to his office: “I hit a hornet’s nest…”, he wrote on Twitter). But the doctor, already threatened with death in 2021, does not intend to end his fight against disinformation on social networks: “The freedom to inform is in danger in the face of the desire to misinform and harm,” explains -he. But to remain silent would mean that obscurantism has won. The game is worth it more than ever and it is essential to maintain a presence on social networks, whether it is me or others.
In March 2023, Bruno Le Maire supported Booba in his crusade against “influvoleurs”. He is “right to point out the excesses of influencers,” the minister underlined. Jérôme Barrière believes, based on this example, that the government should also take action on issues of disinformation, particularly regarding health. “It is the responsibility of the government, not to support (me) personally, but to protect public health and fight against misinformation. I expect him to defend the bill against sectarian abuses (…). Freedom of expression exists, but it does not allow you to say anything!” he believes.