Online harassment and the silencing of health expertise in Canada
Researchers
Heidi J.S. Tworek, Chris Tenove, Netheena Mathews
Key takeaways
- There is significant psychological and professional toll of sustained harassment.
- Online harassment of researchers poses risks to academic freedom and public trust.
- Critical information gaps emerge when researchers do not feel safe to share reliable health information.
- Universities need to develop frameworks both within and across institutions to support researchers and mitigate the effect of online harassment.
Overview
This research explores how online harassment is increasingly discouraging Canadian health experts from participating in public conversations about vaccines and public health. Based on interviews with prominent researchers and public health communicators, the study found that nearly all participants experienced online abuse during the COVID-19 pandemic, with vaccine-related topics among the most common triggers.
The research highlights the significant psychological and professional toll of sustained harassment, particularly for experts from underrepresented communities, and the risks this poses to academic freedom and public trust.
The research also shows that when experts step back from public engagement to protect themselves, critical information gaps emerge — creating space for misinformation and weakening equitable access to reliable health information.
It concludes that individual coping strategies are not enough, and calls for coordinated, institution-wide support that protects health communicators and enables evidence-based expertise to reach the public safely and effectively.
Learn more:
- Policy Brief: How Universities Can Better Address Online Harassment
- Online harassment is silencing Canada’s health experts — institutions need to do more to protect them
- Mental Health and Coping Strategies of Health Communicators Who Faced Online Abuse During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Mixed Methods Study