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Physicians and scientists commonly experience online harassment, and this was especially true during the COVID pandemic, new survey data showed.

Among 359 physicians, biomedical scientists, and trainees responding to the survey, 64% reported harassment related to comments made about the COVID pandemic, 31% reported being sexually harassed, and 18% reported their private information had been shared (known as "doxxing"), reported Regina Royan, MD, MPH, of Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago, and colleagues.

Of note, 70% who used social media to post public health information experienced online harassment compared with 39% who didn't post this kind of information (P<0.001), they said in a research letter published in .

Of participants reporting any online harassment, 64% said that the pandemic changed the way they use social media.

"Social media plays a role in disseminating medical and scientific knowledge to the public; however, high levels of reported harassment may lead more physicians and scientists to limit the way they use social media, thus leaving propagation of misinformation unchecked by those most qualified to combat it," Royan and team wrote.

Aside from COVID-related public health messaging, content about abortion advocacy, firearm safety, transgender advocacy, and religion were all major triggers for online harassment.

Women and gender-diverse respondents were far more likely than men to report harassment based on gender (67% and 58% vs 13%, P<0.001). In addition, 82% of Black respondents and 52% of Asian respondents reported harassment on the basis of their race or ethnicity compared with only 15% of white respondents (P<0.001), and 69% of Hispanic respondents reported harassment based on race or ethnicity versus 25% of non-Hispanic respondents (P<0.001).

Co-author Vineet M. Arora, MD, MPP, of the University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine, told 麻豆传媒 that physicians and scientists "are definitely getting attacked not just for what they're saying, but who they are."

In from Arora, one in four physicians reported being attacked on social media and one in six female physicians reported experiencing sexual harassment. To expand upon that research, Royan, Arora, and colleagues sought to assess the types of harassment with a bigger sample size.

Reshma Jagsi, MD, DPhil, of Emory University School of Medicine in Atlanta, told 麻豆传媒 that this research is a call to action "to support those courageous individuals who persist in serving the community through their efforts on social media and to advocate for measures that improve safety and accountability of public forums in general."

"As in any survey, there may be biases due to self-selection of who chose to respond, but the very real description of topics provoking harassment and forms of harassment remain informative and compelling," said Jagsi, who was not involved in the study.

Arora noted that the kinds of attacks that participants reported were not just harmless trolling. "I think when people think of attacks, people think of like, oh, somebody got trolled and they had ... a negative comment posted underneath their tweet ... or their profile. But these are actually serious attacks."

One respondent wrote, "As [pandemic-related] misinformation grew, I found myself consistently tweeting out information or retweeting tweets to correct misinformation. Of course, that led to increased harassment, especially as a Black woman scientist."

Another shared that "after advocating for masking in our local schools, photographs were taken without my consent at an outdoor pool setting of myself in my bathing suit and my daughter in just a diaper. These were posted all over social media."

One respondent detailed how they had been doxxed multiple times via social media and fake reviews, and someone once even edited their face onto nude models. Others reported receiving death threats, having their home addresses posted online, and being reported to HR and medical boards.

Arora said this study illuminates the need for education and awareness about online harassment, as well as tighter regulations to protect people in these situations, such as that protects public health and healthcare workers from doxxing.

For this study, survey participants were recruited through Twitter using a standardized message. The researchers collected survey responses from July 18 to Aug. 21, 2022. Inclusion criteria included residing in the U.S. and being either a physician, biomedical scientist, or trainee.

Of 1,028 survey views, 359 respondents met the inclusion criteria; 33% were ages 35 to 44 years, 57% were women, and 4% identified as transgender male or man, transgender female or woman, gender nonbinary, or self-described gender.

Royan and colleagues noted that study limitations included potential nonresponse bias, self-selection bias, and recall bias.

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