Two-thirds of physicians and biomedical scientists reported harassment on social media following the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a study published June 14 in JAMA Network Open and conducted by researchers at Northwestern University in Chicago.
The study pulled from a survey of 359 physicians and scientists and found that 66 percent of respondents reported being harassed on social media. This is a significant increase from the 23.3 percent of physicians and scientists who reported social media harassment in 2020 before the COVID-19 pandemic began.
Sixty-four percent of respondents reported being harassed related to comments made about the COVID-19 pandemic, while 31 percent reported being sexually harassed and 18 percent reported being "doxxed," or having their private information shared.
The study also found that 88 percent of respondents reported experiencing harassment due to advocacy, 45 percent reported harassment on the basis of gender and 27 percent reported harassment on the basis of race or ethnicity.
Meanwhile, 13 percent of respondents reported harassment on the basis of sexual orientation, with another 6 percent reporting harassment due to a disability.