Peterson refuses social media re-education

The investigation by the psychology organization follows years of complaints made against Peterson on a variety of charges since his rise to fame in 2016.

'For criticizing our prime minister and his cronies… I have now been convicted by the College of Psychologists of ‘harming’ people in some manner serious enough to justify my forced re-education,” Peterson said.

Jordan Peterson is willing to potentially lose his medical license for refusing social media re-education training. 

On January 3, Peterson announced that the College of Psychologists of Ontario (CPO) served him with the order to complete “mandatory social-media communications retraining” due to his criticism of the Canadian government.

The CPO has been investigating Peterson since July 2022 concerning his “conduct in light of possible risks to the public,” according to the CPO’s official documentation.

The investigation by the psychology organization follows years of complaints made against Peterson on a variety of charges since his rise to fame in 2016, as Peterson noted in a scathing opinion piece in Canada’s National Post earlier this week. 

[RELATED: Jordan Peterson resigns tenure position, claims colleagues lie about DEI beliefs to secure funding]

Peterson reports that past complaints alleged he is “sexist, transphobic, incapable of the requisite body positivity in relationship to morbid obesity and, [most] unforgivably of all, a climate change denialist.”

The primary charge against Peterson in the current ruling, however, rests on his criticism of Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Trudeau’s former Chief of Staff Gerald Butts, and New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Arden. 

The CPO also alleges that Peterson’s critique of Canadian COVID-19 policies has been inconsistent with “professional standards.” 

The ruling further questions Peterson’s “mental health related to some of the statements he made” during his four-hour interview on “The Joe Rogan Experience (Episode #1769).” No specific statements or quotes from Peterson on the podcast were listed in the publicly available CPO documents, however. 

“For criticizing our prime minister and his cronies and peers…and for daring to express [different] political views, I have now been convicted by the College of Psychologists of ‘harming’ people in some manner serious enough to justify my forced re-education,” Peterson said.

A best-selling author with over 15 million followers on social media, Peterson is Professor Emeritus at the University of Toronto and is currently the Chancellor of Ralston College in Georgia. As Campus Reform has previously reported, he is also a contributor to the streaming platform, “DailyWire+.”

[RELATED: Jordan Peterson joins Daily Wire+ ]

Peterson noted in his op-ed that he practiced clinical psychology for over 20 years before closing his practice in 2017 when his “rising notoriety or fame made continuing as a private therapist practically and ethically impossible.”

Although the names of the complainants are redacted in the published copy of the report, Peterson has clarified that “none of the complainants involved in the current action were clients of [mine], past or present.”

In a letter to Trudeau, published in the National Post, Peterson wrote that “political criticism has now become such a crime in Canada that if professionals dare engage in such activity, government-appointed commissars will threaten their livelihood and present them with the spectacle of denouncement and political disgrace.”

Campus Reform has contacted Dr. Peterson, Joe Rogan, The Daily Wire, Prime Minister Trudeau’s office, and the CPO for comment and will update accordingly.

Follow Gabrielle M. Etzel on Twitter.