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Overwhelmed by Hate: Scientists Fear for their Lives In These Times.
This a news item in a recent issue of the scientific journal Science:
IN THE LINE OF FIRE (Kathleen O'Grady, Science 24 March 2022)
Subtitle:
Scientists have been harassed for years. But a Science survey shows the pandemic has made things far worse for some
(The words in the link to the article refers to what may have been a working title, to wit: overwhelmed-hate-covid-19-scientists-face-avalanche-abuse-survey-shows)
I'm not sure whether the news item is open sourced, so here's some excerpts:
When Marion Koopmans, a virologist at Erasmus University Medical Center, visited a museum in Amsterdam with her family last year, she was spotted by the wrong crowd: people who hate Koopmans because of her work on COVID-19. “They started really yelling, banging,” she says. “Security locked the doors.”
Since early in the pandemic, Koopmans has found herself targeted by people who believe the pandemic is a hoax, the virus was created intentionally to cause harm, or vaccines are dangerous. She has received death threats, been accused of belonging to an elite network of pedophiles—a belief held by devotees of the QAnon conspiracy theory—and told she should be tried for crimes against humanity.
Now, Koopmans no longer makes public appearances without first alerting the police. As a frequent guest on Dutch TV, “I cannot go out on the street anonymously,” she says. Her family is not comfortable walking outside with her, and they worry about her ever traveling to the United States, where much of the vitriol originates.
She’s not alone. When, in March 2020, a science story became the biggest news story in the world, scientists became household names overnight, even celebrities. But many also became the targets of new and extreme levels of harassment, intimidation, and threats. U.K. Chief Medical Advisor Chris Whitty was accosted by two men in a London park; disease ecologist Peter Daszak of the EcoHealth Alliance received a letter containing white powder that resembled anthrax; Belgian virologist Marc Van Ranst and his family were moved to a safe house after he was threatened by a former soldier who was later found dead in a national park.
To better understand the level of intimidation, its effects, and the ways scientists cope with it, Science asked 9585 researchers who have published on COVID-19 to fill out an online survey about their experiences. Of 510 who responded, 38% reported at least one type of attack, ranging from insults to death threats, delivered on social media, by email or phone, or sometimes even in person. Those who were harassed described a range of effects on their lives, including workplace problems and mental health issues...
...Another group of people driving the attacks are “essentially parasitic,” Ahmed says: pundits, politicians, and commentators who purposefully court conflict on social media, knowing that fights drive visibility and, in turn, lead to more followers and greater impact. Fox News host Tucker Carlson has called Anthony Fauci, a top U.S. government scientist, “an even shorter version of Benito Mussolini” and said Baylor University vaccine researcher Peter Hotez is a “nutcase” and a “charlatan.”
Hotez was also criticized by Florida Governor Ron DeSantis (R)—in a Fox News segment that referred to Hotez as a “medical cartel member”—which unleashed torrents of abuse...
...For Fatima Tokhmafshan, a geneticist at McGill University who came to Canada as a refugee from Iran at the age of 17, much of the vitriol has been Islamophobic or xenophobic. Before COVID-19, “I never experienced anybody calling me a filthy immigrant, telling me I deserve to be raped and have my head on a spike because I want to vaccinate kids,” says Tokhmafshan, who has tried to counter misinformation on social media...
...One animal researcher who spoke on condition of anonymity said the threats affected their family as well. Their young daughter found a box of hate mail postcards—including death threats—in their office, for example. Santer says his son felt unsafe at home after someone left a dead rat on his doorstep. The attacks he faced “had catastrophic implications for my family,” he says. “It was, in a sense, a loss of innocence for me.” In the surveys, 22% of COVID-19 researchers and 20% of AAAS members reported that harassment had caused at least some family or social problems...
...Accusations of immorality are particularly bruising, some researchers say. Ellie Murray, an epidemiologist at Boston University, has been vocal about the need to protect children from infections, but her message has been twisted into accusations of being “pro–school closure,” she says, and then to “people claiming that I encourage child suicide.” Theresa Chapple, who directs a local health department in the United States, has been accused of being “antichildren,” she says, “which is really hard to hear … because my Ph.D. is in maternal and child health...”
Since early in the pandemic, Koopmans has found herself targeted by people who believe the pandemic is a hoax, the virus was created intentionally to cause harm, or vaccines are dangerous. She has received death threats, been accused of belonging to an elite network of pedophiles—a belief held by devotees of the QAnon conspiracy theory—and told she should be tried for crimes against humanity.
Now, Koopmans no longer makes public appearances without first alerting the police. As a frequent guest on Dutch TV, “I cannot go out on the street anonymously,” she says. Her family is not comfortable walking outside with her, and they worry about her ever traveling to the United States, where much of the vitriol originates.
She’s not alone. When, in March 2020, a science story became the biggest news story in the world, scientists became household names overnight, even celebrities. But many also became the targets of new and extreme levels of harassment, intimidation, and threats. U.K. Chief Medical Advisor Chris Whitty was accosted by two men in a London park; disease ecologist Peter Daszak of the EcoHealth Alliance received a letter containing white powder that resembled anthrax; Belgian virologist Marc Van Ranst and his family were moved to a safe house after he was threatened by a former soldier who was later found dead in a national park.
To better understand the level of intimidation, its effects, and the ways scientists cope with it, Science asked 9585 researchers who have published on COVID-19 to fill out an online survey about their experiences. Of 510 who responded, 38% reported at least one type of attack, ranging from insults to death threats, delivered on social media, by email or phone, or sometimes even in person. Those who were harassed described a range of effects on their lives, including workplace problems and mental health issues...
...Another group of people driving the attacks are “essentially parasitic,” Ahmed says: pundits, politicians, and commentators who purposefully court conflict on social media, knowing that fights drive visibility and, in turn, lead to more followers and greater impact. Fox News host Tucker Carlson has called Anthony Fauci, a top U.S. government scientist, “an even shorter version of Benito Mussolini” and said Baylor University vaccine researcher Peter Hotez is a “nutcase” and a “charlatan.”
Hotez was also criticized by Florida Governor Ron DeSantis (R)—in a Fox News segment that referred to Hotez as a “medical cartel member”—which unleashed torrents of abuse...
...For Fatima Tokhmafshan, a geneticist at McGill University who came to Canada as a refugee from Iran at the age of 17, much of the vitriol has been Islamophobic or xenophobic. Before COVID-19, “I never experienced anybody calling me a filthy immigrant, telling me I deserve to be raped and have my head on a spike because I want to vaccinate kids,” says Tokhmafshan, who has tried to counter misinformation on social media...
...One animal researcher who spoke on condition of anonymity said the threats affected their family as well. Their young daughter found a box of hate mail postcards—including death threats—in their office, for example. Santer says his son felt unsafe at home after someone left a dead rat on his doorstep. The attacks he faced “had catastrophic implications for my family,” he says. “It was, in a sense, a loss of innocence for me.” In the surveys, 22% of COVID-19 researchers and 20% of AAAS members reported that harassment had caused at least some family or social problems...
...Accusations of immorality are particularly bruising, some researchers say. Ellie Murray, an epidemiologist at Boston University, has been vocal about the need to protect children from infections, but her message has been twisted into accusations of being “pro–school closure,” she says, and then to “people claiming that I encourage child suicide.” Theresa Chapple, who directs a local health department in the United States, has been accused of being “antichildren,” she says, “which is really hard to hear … because my Ph.D. is in maternal and child health...”
If the article is open sourced, it's worth a full read I think; there are many nice graphics breaking down the types of threats and other harassment these scientists have experienced.
I should add this is not all new; although perhaps the intensity is higher than ever with respect to Covid ignorance. My attention was drawn to this article as I considered the history of the scientific career one of my sons is entering, about which I am in the process of writing a post, which led me to recall it.
Have a nice day.
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