Over half of climate scientists speaking in media face harassment or insults

More than half (53.33%) of scientists who discuss climate change in the media report being harassed or insulted, primarily on social platforms such as X, formerly known as Twitter.

These findings are according to a survey conducted by the Spanish Foundation for Science and Technology (FECYT).

For researchers covering Covid-19, the figure of those who have been harassed or insulted online rises sharply to 74%.

The most common forms of harassment include insults (30%), attacks on professional competence (29%), and questions about their integrity (18%).

Overall, 51.05% of surveyed scientists acknowledged experiencing some form of harassment.

Gender disparities

The report also highlights the additional harassment that women scientists receive, as 56% of female researchers have reported being targeted, while the figure is 46% for men.

Women also face more comments questioning their scientific competence (34% compared to 24% for men), whereas men are more likely to receive attacks on their professional integrity.

Social media network X, formerly Twitter, has been identified as the most common platform for such attacks, with 59.86% of incidents occurring there.

Despite these obstacles, 83% of researchers maintain a positive or very positive view of engaging with media and social platforms, citing effectively disseminating their research to the public as the main benefit.

The findings are based on a survey of 237 researchers conducted by the Science Media Centre Spain (SMC) in collaboration with the Gureiker research group at the University of the Basque Country.