Nature has published a toolkit to help protect scientists from online harassment.Credit: Carlos Barrio/Reuters
No researcher should experience violence or threats while doing their work. But this is an ever-present danger for researchers in countries such as Afghanistan that are controlled by totalitarian regimes. Increasingly, it is also a risk for researchers elsewhere working in areas of science and public policy where views can be extremely polarized, such as on climate change or gun control—or, indeed, in the response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
One year ago, Nature surveyed researchers in several countries who had spoken to the media about COVID-19. We found that 47 out of 321 respondents (about 15%) had received death threats and 72 had been threatened with physical or sexual violence. The Center for Science Media in London published advice on how to get support. In an editorial at the time, we urged institutions to recognize the seriousness of these threats and do more to protect colleagues (Nature 598, 236; 2021).
now, NatureThe Careers team has spoken to more experts and published a toolkit for researchers on how to protect themselves from abuse and threats (see Nature 609, 205–207; 2022).
The advice includes relatively simple tech fixes for individuals, including turning off comments and direct messages on social media platforms like Twitter, setting up two-factor authentication on all accounts, and using a password manager to generate strong passwords for reduce the risk of accounts. being hacked.
But our tool includes important advice for institutions as well. For example, they should remove researchers’ contact details from websites at the first sign of harassment, which could include publicly available contact details used to bombard people with threatening messages and phone calls. Universities can also provide expert help, including having dedicated staff on hand to provide advice or on-screen messages. And they can connect people with colleagues who have experienced bullying themselves and can offer support.
Institutions should also actively advocate for staff and issue clear statements of support to colleagues. Researchers report that such acts are empowering because it reassures them that the authorities are looking out for them. “You feel like you have a safety net,” says Evita March, a psychologist at the Australian Federation in Melbourne.
Researchers know that their work is always open to questions and challenges – after all, this is how science progresses. But there is no room for threats in science. This means that those who have the power to protect scientists must do more to exercise it.
