The Covid-19 epidemic has caused an adaptation of sectarian discourse, without an increase in reports, according to the activity report of the Interministerial Mission for Vigilance and the Fight against Sectarian Drifts (Miviludes), dated July 22 and which covers the period 2018-2020.
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Miviludes, attached to the Ministry of the Interior since last year, received 3,008 reports in 2020, which represents an increase of 40% compared to 2015, of which 686 are deemed urgent.
120 of them were "
in direct connection with the health crisis
" details the report, which explains that there was no "
massive increase in reports
".
Widening the audience for conspiratorial discourse
However, "
all movements that present risks of a sectarian nature have remarkably adapted their speeches and their offers
" to the Covid-19 epidemic, according to Miviludes, which emphasizes that "
the increase in the level of anxiety
" and "
isolation
”during periods of confinement are factors that facilitate the development of sectarian discourse.
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The health crisis has given new arguments to movements and personalities who "
oppose scientific medicine
", according to the document. “
Some religious movements
” have also changed their discourse, “
on the subject of divine punishment,
” the report explains. Miviludes also warns about a widening of "
the audience of conspiratorial discourse
" caused by the health crisis, as well as "
the evolution of several leaders towards a subversive political discourse
". She cites in particular the strengthening of the pro-Trump conspiracy movement QAnon, which appeared in France in 2018. A phenomenon in which Miviludes says it does not find "
all the elements that characterize the sectarian influence
”, but“
elements of a form of enlistment
”.
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More broadly, 38% of reports in 2020 to Miviludes were related to the field of health and well-being.
Among the new trends, the stages of extreme fasting, or raw food consumption, a practice that consists of consuming raw foods.
La Miviludes also underlines the "
notable
"
increase
in scams linked to economic activity, which mainly target 18-25 year-olds by promising them easy money, ranging from scams to "
the establishment of 'a real mental hold.
"