Aussie doctor found guilty of misconduct for Christian posts, faces license revocation
A Victorian court has found Dr Jereth Kok guilty of professional misconduct for posting his Christian and conservative views on social media.
Dr. Kok has never had a patient complaint or been accused of misconduct. However, due to his social media posts, he was placed under investigation by the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA). In 2019, he was suspended by the Medical Board of Australia. Dr. Kok has been suspended from practicing for six years. Last week, a ruling was issued finding Dr. Kok guilty of professional misconduct. The physician will face a trial next year to determine whether his license will be revoked.
According to the Daily Declaration, the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (VCAT) reviewed 84 posts Dr. Kok published to social media between 2008 and 2022. It found that 54 of the posts “denigrated, demeaned and slurred” members of protected groups as well as other medical practitioners and contributed to “vaccine hesitancy.” Most of the posts were published on Facebook, visible only to his private network. Only 13% of the content was visible to the general public.
The ‘offensive’ posts
Among Dr. Kok’s “offending” posts was a link to the Ezekiel Declaration, a statement signed by thousands of church leaders in August 2021 calling for an end to vaccine mandates. He referred to mass abortion as “massacres of babies” and slammed abortionists as “butchers” and “serial contract killers.” He quoted Romans 12:17-21 in his criticism of Islam as a violent religion.
“The Tribunal is comfortably satisfied that the post’s clear meaning is that the Islamic religion is not a religion of peace,” the court’s ruling states. “The Tribunal finds that this is derogatory towards a religious group.”
Dr. Kok shared two articles from the Babylon Bee, one titled “Instead Of Traditional Warfare, Chinese Military Will Now Be Trained To Shout Wrong Pronouns At American Troops,” and another titled “Congressional Prayer Lasts Two Days As Democrat Includes All 5,787 Genders.” The Tribunal said this showed Dr. Kok “failed to respect gender diversity” and was “derogatory to LGBTQI+ persons.”
In another post, Dr. Kok linked to an open letter from the Australian Christian Lobby opposing the medical mutilation of children, which is packaged as “gender-affirming care.” Dr. Kok added the following commentary: “Attention Victorian parents. One part of the diabolical ‘conversion or suppression’ bill that has received comparatively less attention: parents who try to STOP their child being sent away for bodily disfigurement will be charged with domestic violence. Yes, you read that right. Standing in the way of permanent bodily injury = violence. Sign this open letter to the Premier.”
The Tribunal said this showed Dr. Kok “failed to respect gender diversity” and was “denigrating, demeaning, disrespectful and derogatory to LGBTQI+ persons as it indicates that treatment for gender dysphoria is bodily disfigurement.”
Dr. Kok, who is Chinese, referred in one post to Chinese people as “ching chongs.” The Tribunal said this showed Dr. Kok “failed to show respect and sensitivity for those from culturally diverse backgrounds.”
‘Serious implications for freedom of speech’
Although Dr. Kok’s legal team argued that his posts are protected under free speech laws, the VCAT said sanctioning him is “in the public interest.”
“This case has serious implications for freedom of speech in Australia,” John Steenhof, the principal lawyer on Dr. Kok’s legal team, said after the ruling. “It will set a precedent in the law for AHPRA being able to exercise regulatory powers to suppress speech and personal, political and religious opinions on social media.”
“Regulators like AHPRA and the Medical Board have significant powers over practitioners and their conduct,” he added. “These powers are now not just being used to protect patients from serious medical malpractice, but to punish practitioners for holding and expressing unpopular social and moral views when they touch on medical issues.”
