"It bothers me, all this fuss," says Yvon Le Flohic.
Since Tuesday evening, dozens of comments from doctors and other tweeters have followed one another, deploring the deletion of his highly-followed Twitter account, entitled DrGomi.
A decision made by the doctor himself, after having been the subject of many derogatory comments.
And which illustrates, according to him, the difficulty of communicating on the Covid-19 epidemic, at a time when divergent voices and opinions are flooding the media and social networks.
Yvon Le Flohic became, during the epidemic, one of the many accounts of doctors and other scientists who share, discuss and work for the prevention of Covid in France and everywhere else.
An account that has gathered, in the space of a few months, nearly 14,000 subscribers.
With this hearing came a sacred responsibility for the doctor: that of clearing up information coming from all sides, on a disease about which we knew almost nothing.
Wearing a mask, proof of the aerosolization of the virus, testing policy… The doctor's favorite themes are numerous.
And he does not defend them alone.
"I relay the opinions of experts and working groups in number", explains the doctor, citing in particular the work of infectious disease specialist Anne-Claude Crémieux, Christian Drosten, the benchmark epidemiologist in Germany, or even of Antoine Flahault, based in Switzerland.
Raoult, masks, and extremists
But with this audience also came its share of disadvantages, such as virulent attacks, especially on debates often causing tension within the public.
There are extremist accounts, accounts sharing false information, "the pro-Raoult, the anti-Raoult, the pro-masks, the anti-masks", lists Yvon Le Flohic.
“I made the mistake of supporting someone who had pro-Raoult positions, and that generated violent reactions.
[…] Professor Raoult, I attacked him when he said that the virus only passed through the hands, but I am also able to say that he is right about his policy of tests in Marseille ”, adds -it to emphasize the lack of nuance on the platform.
“For a long time, I wondered if this account was a good way to inform,” admits the general practitioner from his office in Brittany.
“Social networks have never made it possible to discuss.
These are just clashes, ”he laments.
These clashes prompted him to delete his account on Tuesday.
. @ DrGomi has deactivated his account, it seems after multiple verbal attacks.
I have been working with him since February he is in my opinion the best expert on how # COVID__19 works.
Let the lousy conspiracy theorists and other worshipers fuck themselves
- DrMartyUFML-S (@Drmartyufml) September 23, 2020
Since then, supportive comments have been piling up.
"It's because / thanks to him that I'm on Twitter," admits Claudine.
“In March, while searching for info on this virus, my research brought me to a link from DrGomi.
I was "hooked", and through him, I found all the information, and discovered other people to follow, "she says.
"He probably saved lives by his prevention messages and his analysis of the epidemic", incenses Alain for his part.
"Communication was not optimal"
Many other doctors and scientists have gathered, like him, many subscribers thanks to their awareness work on the social network.
This work is considered essential in the face of sometimes confused messages on the epidemic: “Communication was not optimal in this crisis.
We want to try to improve that, ”says Eric Billy, a researcher in immuno-oncology also very present on the social network.
"Some media have given too much echo to a minority, which has led the French to no longer necessarily understand what was the scientific and medical position which is not static and evolves with data and information", develops the scientist based in Strasbourg.
Communication and information are precisely what worries Yvon Le Flohic, the day after his account is deleted.
There are many questions: how do you get information to an audience that has lost confidence in the media?
How not to fall into over-media coverage?
How to fight against disinformation?
For now, the answers are not clear.
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However, he is convinced of one thing: "If I go back to Twitter, I will do it differently," he says.
His goal, he promises, is to inform about the Covid, nothing more.
“Lots of people have lots of stuff to sell.
Either they sell themselves, or it's politics ... Me, all I want to sell is prevention.
As a doctor, we don't really want the epidemic to start again.
"