Change the terms and conditions: CMA meets social media giants pushing for healthcare workers' online safety

Less than a month after it called for an end to online harassment and personal threats against healthcare professionals, the Canadian Medical Association has started meeting with officials at major social media platforms to discuss how to protect healthcare workers from online trolls who go too far. “It’s been encouraging—we have the same objective, to create safe spaces for sharing information,” said Dr. Katherine Smart, president of the Canadian Medical Association told The Medical Post. “There are lots of opportunities for us to collaborate.” While the CMA declined to give the names of the companies it's met with so far, the goal, said Dr. Smart, is for social media platforms to do more to monitor and prevent online behaviour that seeks to intimidate healthcare professionals. An important step is the inclusion of safeguards against online harassment and threats in the terms and conditions that social media companies set for their users. “It’s about making it very clear in their terms and conditions that behaviour that’s threatening and intimidating is not acceptable and that there are consequences for that,” she said. Read: CMA urges federal government, social media companies to protect healthcare workers from harassment The CMA also hopes to partner with social media companies to train physicians on the effective use of social media. “We’ve seen how social media can be leveraged to educate people and we don’t want to be left behind in this space because it’s so impactful,” said Dr. Smart. “Healthcare providers have traditionally not been in the spotlight, but the pandemic has created an urgent need for public advocacy and a lot of physicians have put themselves out there.” While there’s been plenty of support for doctors who've spoken out on social media about the importance of COVID-19 guidelines and getting vaccinated, a number doctors have been threatened for their advocacy, to the point where some have had to changed the locks on their homes, said Dr. Smart. “I myself have had threatening attacks sent to me,” she said. “It’s hard to open up your Twitter and Instagram and have 20 hate messages. It’s not pleasant and it’s not unique to medicine. What we’re worried about is when it crosses the line to racism, misogyny and threats and we think the (social media) platforms agree that that’s a line that shouldn’t be crossed.” The first set of meetings with social media companies, which took place in the first week of December, were “preliminary,” said Dr. Smart, and just the beginning of a more involved process towards change. To this end, last month a bill was introduced to amend the country’s Criminal Code to include specific offences for intimidation against healthcare workers and patients, as well as attempts to block access to healthcare facilities. “It will definitely help the social media platforms if there’s clear legislation that gives them more latitude to address these issues,” said Dr. Smart. “And it’s not just social media; if the law is clear then it allows everyone—hospitals, clinics and other healthcare facilities—to enact policies to protect healthcare workers and patients.” Read: Fear and Silence

Change the terms and conditions: CMA meets social media giants pushing for healthcare workers' online safety

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