Sayer Ji
Douglas Sayer Ji | |
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| Born | October 10, 1972 |
| Occupation | Alternative medicine advocate |
| Years active | Since 2008 |
| Known for | GreenMedInfo |
| Website | www |
| Part of a series on |
| Alternative medicine |
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Douglas Sayer Ji (born October 10, 1972) is the founder of alternative medicine portal GreenMedInfo, a website known for promoting various pseudoscientific publications. He was identified in 2020 as one of the largest promoters of COVID-19 misinformation on social media.
Background
[edit]The son of a biochemist, Ji obtained a BA in philosophy from Rutgers University in 1995.[1] He went on to manage an organic food market in Bonita Springs, Florida, after working with camps and facilities for troubled youths. He developed an interest for Zen Buddhism during that period, but stopped short of joining the movement.[2][3][4]
He is the former editor of the defunct International Journal of Human Nutrition and Functional Medicine[5] and a member of the advisory board and a former vice-president of the National Health Federation, a lobby group opposing government regulation of alternative health practitioners and supplements retailers.[5][6][7][8]
Ji became popular promoting common alternative medicine beliefs, such as enthusiasm for ancient healing practices and the claim that the appearance of some foods is meant to indicate which organ of the human body they are meant to treat.[5] While he earlier had invited his readers to be suspicious of governments, health authorities and pharmaceutical companies, during the COVID-19 pandemic Ji joined other proponents of alternative medicine in embracing conspiracy theories about allegedly oppressive global organizations.[9][10]
He was married to Kelly Brogan from 2019 to 2022, living in Miami.[11]
Ji denies being an anti-vaccination activist, but consistently shares false or misleading messages about vaccine safety and efficacy.[5][12][13][12] He lives in Florida.[8][14]
GreenMedInfo
[edit]Ji's website, GreenMedInfo, was started in 2008. It purports to allow users to search articles from the research portal PubMed on alternative medicine topics. However, tests made in 2019 by the McGill Organization for Science and Society showed only articles appearing to indicate positive results for alternative medicine treatments are displayed as search results through GreenMedInfo, ignoring the large number of research papers denying the effectiveness of alternative medicine.[5][11]
The website also presents unreliable health and nutrition information, as well as common conspiracy theories, as facts, notably about the efficacy of vaccination.[5] It has been noted for a lack of neutrality and curated toward those papers that confirm his pronouncements and away from those that undermine his pronouncements. "A colossal exercise in cherry picking."[15]
Using web browsing data collected between 2016 and 2019, one study found that GreenMedInfo was a top site for vaccine-skeptical information.[16]
As of 2021, annual subscription plans to GreenMedInfo range from $75 to $850.[9] In 2019, the website claimed some one million views per month.[5]
Social media disinformation
[edit]The Center for Countering Digital Hate identified Ji as one of twelve individuals promoting most of the misinformation that can be found online about vaccines, along with his spouse (at the time) Kelly Brogan, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Christiane Northrup, Ty and Charlene Bollinger, and supplement giant Joseph Mercola.[12][13][11]
He promotes anti-vaccination videos sold by Ty and Charlene Bollinger and receives a commission whenever his referrals result in a sale, a practice known as affiliate marketing.[17] He used this network of affiliates to help Brogan expand her own audience. The couple often appeared together in videos promoting their respective products and workshops, presenting their relationship in spiritual terms, such as "Our Spiral Path".[11]
Ji falsely claimed on Facebook that the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine killed more people than the virus itself. Like Brogan, he also discouraged the public from using face masks to limit the spread of the virus. Other information presented by Ji and GreenMedInfo has been flagged as false or misleading.[12][18]
In 2020, both Twitter and Instagram removed GreenMedInfo from their platform as part of their efforts to limit the spread of misinformation about COVID-19.[12][9] Pinterest had already banned Ji in 2018.[19]
Ji participated to an online fundraising event to support the presidential campaign of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. The round table, held June 27, 2023, brought together several prominent anti-vaccination activists, such as Mikki Willis, Del Bigtree, Charles Eisenstein, Sherri Tenpenny and Joe Mercola.[20] He has since distanced himself from Kennedy, disagreeing with his stance on the Israel–Hamas war.[21]
List of publications
[edit]- Ji, Sayer (2020). Regenerate: Unlocking Your Body's Radical Resilience through the New Biology. Hay House. ISBN 9781401956387.
- Ji, Sayer; Le Vere, Ali (2018). "Revisioning cellular bioenergetics: Food as Information and the Light-Driven Body". In Bakhru, Aruna (ed.). Nutrition and Integrative Medicine A Primer for Clinicians. CRC Press. ISBN 9781498759489.
See also
[edit]- America's Frontline Doctors
- Children's Health Defense
- COVID-19 misinformation
- COVID-19 misinformation by governments
- List of conspiracy theories
- List of unproven methods against COVID-19
- Plandemic
- ScienceUpFirst, a Canadian science communication campaign focusing on the pandemic
References
[edit]- ^ "Sayer Ji". The Gluten Summit. Archived from the original on May 24, 2019. Retrieved May 20, 2021.
- ^ Sowder, Amy (July 20, 2012). "Make a fresh start". The New Press. Fort Myers. ProQuest 1027059669. Retrieved May 9, 2021.
- ^ Sowder, Amy (March 30, 2012). "Black is back". The New Press. Fort Myers. ProQuest 960422391. Retrieved May 19, 2021.
- ^ Rubin, Jonna (September 16, 2006). "Health food store manager finds career by accident". Naples Daily News. Archived from the original on January 26, 2024. Retrieved January 26, 2024.
- ^ a b c d e f g Jarry, Jonathan (July 11, 2020). "Popular Health Guru Sayer Ji Curates the Scientific Literature with His Bachelor's Degree in Philosophy". Office for Science and Society. Archived from the original on February 4, 2021. Retrieved May 19, 2021.
- ^ "The NHF's Mission and Values". The National Health Federation. Archived from the original on May 19, 2021. Retrieved May 19, 2021.
- ^ "Board of Governors". National Health Federation. Archived from the original on April 17, 2020. Retrieved May 19, 2021.
- ^ a b "Sayer Ji Biography". All American Speakers Bureau. Archived from the original on May 20, 2021. Retrieved May 20, 2021.
- ^ a b c Brumfiel, Geoff (May 12, 2021). "NPR". For Some Anti-Vaccine Advocates, Misinformation Is Part Of A Business. Archived from the original on May 19, 2021. Retrieved May 19, 2021.
- ^ Jones, Craig (December 10, 2020). "Claim that the FDA found that coronavirus vaccines awaiting approval could cause death is majorly misleading". Newswise. Archived from the original on March 20, 2021. Retrieved May 20, 2021.
- ^ a b c d Beres, Derek; Remski, Matthew; Walker, Julian (2023). Conspirituality: How New Age Conspiracy Theories Became a Health Threat. New York: PublicAffairs. pp. 169–168. ISBN 978-1541702981.
- ^ a b c d e "The Disinformation Dozen" (PDF). Center for Countering Digital Hate (PDF). 2020. Archived (PDF) from the original on May 18, 2021. Retrieved May 19, 2021.
- ^ a b Srikanth, Anagha (March 24, 2021). "12 prominent people opposed to vaccines are responsible for two-thirds of anti-vaccine content online: report". The Hill. Archived from the original on March 25, 2021. Retrieved March 25, 2021.
- ^ Guérin, Cécile (January 28, 2021). "The yoga world is riddled with anti-vaxxers and QAnon believers". Wired. Archived from the original on May 4, 2021. Retrieved May 20, 2021.
- ^ "Popular Health Guru Sayer Ji Curates the Scientific Literature with His Bachelor's Degree in Philosophy | Office for Science and Society – McGill University".
- ^ Guess, Andrew M.; Nyhan, Brendan; O’Keeffe, Zachary; Reifler, Jason (November 2020). "The sources and correlates of exposure to vaccine-related (mis)information online". Vaccine. 38 (49): 7799–7805. doi:10.1016/j.vaccine.2020.10.018. hdl:10871/123840. PMC 7578671. PMID 33164802.
- ^ "Pandemic Profiteers" (PDF). Center for Countering Digital Hate. Center for Countering Digital Hate. June 1, 2021. Archived (PDF) from the original on June 2, 2021. Retrieved June 3, 2021.
- ^ Funke, Daniel (December 9, 2021). "Alternative health website spreads false claim about COVID-19 vaccine side effects". PolitiFact. Archived from the original on May 10, 2021. Retrieved May 19, 2021.
- ^ Kasprak, Alex (December 18, 2018). "Pinterest Removes Three Prominent "Natural Health" Pages for Peddling Health Misinformation". Snopes. Retrieved May 19, 2021.
- ^ Merlan, Anna (June 28, 2023). "Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Gives the Game Away". Vice News. Archived from the original on June 28, 2023. Retrieved July 12, 2023.
- ^ Goldberg, Michelle (April 4, 2024). "Terrified Parents, New Age Health Nuts, MAGA Exiles. Meet the R.F.K. Jr. Faithful". The New York Times. Archived from the original on April 5, 2024. Retrieved April 12, 2024.