CEPEL's support for Alexandre Dézé

CEPEL supports Alexandre Dézé following a complaint lodged against him by IFOP (Institut français d'opinion publique).

Message from Alexandre Dézé :

IFOP ATTEMPTS TO SILENCE ACADEMICS

A few weeks ago, as I was getting ready to publish my book "10 Leçons sur les sondages politiques" (10 Lessons on political polling) with De Boeck, I learned by registered mail that I was the subject of a libel suit by IFOP for the following remarks, made in Le Monde on September 11, 2020, about a survey by the polling institute concerning, among other things, the relationship of Muslims to the Charlie Hebdo attacks: "With such a small sample of 515 people, this poll has no value and its conclusions are debatable. The methodological weakness is delirious, and at the same time there is an unshakeable belief that these polls are science".
I'm still trying to work out what could be defamatory about these remarks. On the other hand, I can demonstrate their validity. But perhaps that's not the point. For almost half a century, political scientists, sociologists and statisticians have offered abundant criticism of opinion polls, pointing out their methodological weaknesses and pseudoscientific nature. In the final analysis, my comments simply echoed these criticisms, which pollsters are well aware of. But it seems that IFOP, or some of its executives, can no longer stand contradiction. And yet, polling firms are supposed to contribute to the "proper" functioning of democracy, not to muzzle it. More broadly speaking, this is an attack on freedom of expression and academic freedom, coupled with what amounts to a gagging procedure, as was once the case for Alain Garrigou, who was sued by Fiducial, a company associated with IFOP.

I asked my university for functional protection and had to hire a lawyer. And I intend to fight this despicable attempt to silence an academic.