2023-09-03 05:30:00
“Yes, it’s 8 degrees in the morning but it’s global warming: we’ll kill you”, “You’re fragile and cowardly, dirty clown”, “Our tolerance for your bullshit is exceeded”, etc. On August 15, the doctor in agroclimatology Serge Zaka published on the social network X (ex-Twitter), where he is very active, an anthology of hate messages and death threats he receives daily.
Hundreds of insulting messages every day
“In France, in 2023, the harassment of climate scientists is a reality. The trivialization of mediocrity is the plague of our time. Without filter, without blurring, here is my daily life. Up to several hundred times a day, ”explained Serge Zaka in his message. This constant harassment of scientists from the spheres of climate skeptics – who dispute the reality of global warming and/or relativize the responsibility of human activities in warming – has taken on such proportions in recent months that some scientists, exhausted and overwhelmed, have decided to leave X or suspend their account, like climatologist and CNRS research director Christophe Cassou, one of the authors of the latest report from the IPCC (Intergovernmental Group of Experts on Climate).
“My notifications had been polluted for several months by disrespectful comments from a horde of climate-skeptical accounts. The most hurtful and revolting in the long run is the questioning of the professional and ethical integrity of scientists, ”explained the scientist in an interview with Reporterre.
These scientists, who explain their research and do a remarkable and meticulous work – voluntary – of pedagogy on the climate, can no longer even argue in the face of insults and attacks on their physique. A phenomenon whose rise is explained by the conjunction of two factors: the end of Covid-19 and the takeover, in October 2022, of Twitter by Elon Musk.
The end of the Covid epidemic, or in any case its lesser media exposure, swung anti-vaccine conspirators from the pandemic to the climate.
And moreover, the takeover of Twitter by the American billionaire has been accompanied by upheaval in the dissemination of conspiratorial remarks, because moderation has been reduced and conspiracy theorists can now subscribe to X, which ensures greater visibility of their publications.
“Since Elon Musk’s acquisition of Twitter, researchers and scientists have sounded the alarm regarding the integrity of the platform. Changes since the acquisition are likely to have ripple effects on other user segments, such as the field of climate policy or future disaster responses following extreme weather events,” explains a study published on 15 August in the journal Trends in Ecology & Evolution. “In our sample of 380,000 environmentally conscious users, almost 50% became inactive on Twitter following its sale in October 2022, a rate well above a control sample. Given the importance of Twitter for public communication, our finding has troubling implications for sharing digital environmental information and engaging the public.
Should we stay on social networks or leave?
For scientists, the question now arises: should we stay on social networks to continue to disseminate and explain established scientific facts to the general public, even if it means suffering an uninterrupted stream of insults and fake news; or should we consider that, faced with this barrel of Danaides of conspiracy, it is a waste of time that ends up encroaching on the daily work of research?
The choice is obviously difficult because researchers are often keen to share their knowledge with a public that fortunately always remains demanding – we measure this every year during the Fête de la science.
(Article published in La Dépêche du Midi on Sunday September 3, 2023)
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