Share of anti- and pro-masks hashtags on social media and press in France 2020

The anti-mask movement originated in the United States at the beginning of the pandemic in 2020, and has gradually spread to Europe. In France, the movement brought together only a few hundred people in the streets but was able to mobilize several thousand people on social networks. In total, the online media, the national and the written press recorded 69 pro-mask hashtags, compared to 31 anti-mask hashtags. On social media the use of negative hashtags about the use of masks were much higher, representing 88 percent of hashtags about masks.

Anti-maskers on social media

The microblogging platform Twitter being very popular among professional and amateur news broadcasters, had registered several anti-masker accounts, amongst which info non stop (@ActuNonStop) was the most influential, aggregating more than 40 thousand followers. However, it was the account Let's Comment, which had the most anti-mask mentions on the platform. As some media platforms were met with suspicion by the broader French population as well as French authorities, the spreading of false information on the web is monitored to a certain extent. Some anti-maskers and conspiracy theorists went on to use the encrypted messaging platform Telegram, considering it to be a safer space.

Hashtags and conspiracy theories

Among the most common hashtags related to wearing masks, the hashtag #JamaisSansMonMasque (never without my mask) was the most popular one, in a close fight for the title with the hashtag #antimasque (anti-mask). Among anti-maskers, the most utilized hashtag was #dictaturesanitaire (sanitary dictatorship), representing a rather tyrannical view anti-maskers had on the government involvement in reducing the spread of the virus. These hashtags were frequently coupled with conspiracy theories and repeatedly proliferated on social networks. The most common conspiracy theory was that the COVID-19 pandemic was caused by 5G waves.