Health-care workers facing online COVID-19 hate need help now, CMA urges feds

The CMA is also calling on social media companies to address harassment and threats made on platforms such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.

The Canadian Medical Association is asking the federal government to fulfil its promise to support health-care employees amid continuing online harassment of physicians and other workers.

The medical association is also calling on social media companies to address harassment and threats made on platforms such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.

Online harassment against health-care workers has not only increased but also escalated in severity over recent weeks and months, said association president Dr. Katharine Smart.

The trend has emerged in parallel with the creation of COVID-19 vaccine mandates and the coming vaccine rollout for children, she added.

Smart said she would like social media companies to recognize they play a part in improving the safety of the platforms where such harassment takes place.

The association has contacted social media outlets and will be meeting with representatives next week to discuss how online spaces can be made safer, she said.

“This type of behaviour emboldens people, and that leads to actual physical harm of people,” Smart said. “And we’ve seen already health-care professionals that have been physically harmed, spit on, hit, accosted, and we can’t have that type of increasing violence.”

She also said the intimidation contributes to the already high levels of stress and burnout among health professionals, and could prompt workers to leave the field “at levels we’ve not seen before.”