Increasing harassment of researchers subject of new report

The prevalence of social media has contributed to the increased level of harassment and online threats faced by researchers, particularly during the pandemic, according to a new Royal Society of Canada policy briefing. (Photo by Firmbee/Pixabay) - A Canadian task force made up of university-based researchers, including at Western, is tackling the growing number of online threats and harassments researchers face and has called on the federal government to initiate a nationwide, coordinated approach to addressing the issue. "The problem has always been there, but the tools have changed," said Howard Ramos, chair of the department of sociology, and co-author of a Royal Society of Canada briefing, " Protecting Expert Advice for the Public: Promoting Safety and Improved Communications. " Ramos and his co-authors considered growing levels of harassment faced by researchers, and laid out recommendations on what funding agencies, the federal government and the post-secondary sector can do to address the issue. Among the recommendations is for Statistics Canada to expand its survey of post-secondary faculty and researchers to "collect data on harassment, intimidation and other threats from outside of scholars' institutions." The working group that published the policy briefing is part of a Royal Society of Canada task force on COVID-19 mandated to provide evidence-informed perspectives on major societal challenges in response to and recovery from the pandemic. "COVID-19 has highlighted the extent to which researchers who publicly share their expertise and the results of research face harassment and personal threats.