BonSens - Bias and Credibility - Media Bias/Fact Check

CONSPIRACY-PSEUDOSCIENCE

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Overall, we rate BonSens a moderate conspiracy and quackery level pseudoscience website based on the frequent publication of disinformation regarding Covid-19 and vaccines.

Detailed Report

Bias Rating: RIGHT CONSPIRACY-PSEUDOSCIENCE
Factual Reporting: LOW
Country: France
Press Freedom Rating: MOSTLY FREE
Media Type: Organization/Foundation
Traffic/Popularity: Medium Traffic
MBFC Credibility Rating: LOW CREDIBILITY

History

Founded in 2020, under the domain BonSens.org, later directed to BonSens.info, the BonSens (GoodSense) Association is an organization that promotes Covid-19 vaccine hesitancy. According to their about page, “Citizens, artisans, entrepreneurs, peasants, lawyers, workers, scientists, doctors, teachers … people of goodwill and common sense have decided to act to face the health and ecological challenges that the world will face in the coming decades.”

The website lacks transparency as they do not clearly express their anti-vaccination mission, name authors, or disclose who owns the organization.

Read our profile on the media and government of France.

Funded by / Ownership

The website does not disclose ownership but names Xavier Azalbert as the publisher. Xavier Azalbert owns the french online news website France-Soir, and according to Newsguard, they “repeatedly publish false content,” especially as it relates to Covid-19. The organization generates revenue through membership fees.

Analysis / Bias

The BonSens website provides information on the mission and actions of BonSens, which include reporting adverse reactions to the Covid-19 vaccine and a way for people to file complaints against Doctors for their treatment with Covid-19 and Doctors to complain about their limitations in treatment options.

The website also features a news section for information and press releases regarding BonSens and their advocacy. For example, in this article, they advise separated parents on how to prevent their child from getting vaccinated Vaccination choice for the child of separated/divorced parents. They also write open letters to the European Union Parliament and United Nations using highly biased words such as this “France is currently in the process of falling into an authoritarian regime. Around half of the French population refuses to receive an experimental products injection developed by various laboratories in a quest to help in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic. This is false because the vaccines are not experimental as they underwent testing before emergency release.

In our research, we also found that BonSens funds scientific studies that align with their anti-vaccination positions. For example, they paid for publishing a study that shows it may be possible that vaccinations are leading to the new variants of covid and conclude that vaccines may not be necessary to control Covid-19: May Vaccines Select SARS-Cov-2 Variants More Readily Escaping Immunity – An Analysis of Public Data. While this study may or may not be valid, it does not align with the consensus that vaccines slow mutations rather than increase them: Vaccines Will Not Produce Worse Variants. In general, BonSens promotes anti-vaccination propaganda and pseudoscience.

Failed Fact Checks

A third-party fact-checker has not checked them.

Overall, we rate BonSens a moderate conspiracy and quackery level pseudoscience website based on the frequent publication of disinformation regarding Covid-19 and vaccines. (D. Van Zandt 9/17/2021) Updated (10/22/2021)

Source: https://bonsens.info/

Last Updated on May 15, 2023 by Media Bias Fact Check