Academics around the world are coming under increasing criticism. In January 2025, the American Association of Colleges and Universities published a survey that found that 53% of U.S. faculty were concerned that their work would make them targets of harassment (see go.nature.com/493upmy).
Science trolls: ‘Hundreds of hateful comments in one day’
The Freedom to Think 2025 report by the Network of Scholars at Risk described a “global crisis of academic freedom,” documenting 395 attacks on researchers and academic institutions in 49 countries, including the United States and Germany, between July 1, 2024, and June 30, 2025 (see go.nature.com/4jk4cI6).
Now, a year into Donald Trump’s second term as President of the United States, anti-science rhetoric and attacks show no sign of abating — both in the United States and elsewhere. In the United States, the federal government has taken steps to control college admissions policies, employment, and freedom of expression. In response to political pressure, individual researchers and entire departments have reported having to remove any mention of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) from grant applications and websites. The European Parliament conducts an annual academic freedom monitoring report; The 2024 edition found that “Case In reality Academic freedom across the EU continues to erode,” due to forces such as changing political regimes, intensifying geopolitical tensions and the increasing use and influence of social media (see go.nature.com/4subrrf). A blog post by the Alexander von Humboldt Institute for Internet and Society in Berlin notes that “disinformation researchers across Europe are being sued, harassed and publicly vilified simply for doing their job” (see go.nature.com/4q45auq).
It is difficult to track how many academics have been targeted. “This phenomenon is largely underreported,” says Beck Haberstroh, director of digital safety training at PEN America, a New York City nonprofit that advocates for free speech. “As a result, these attacks leave people isolated.” In June 2025, the organization held a workshop to train scientists on how to combat harassment. “Normally, our workshops have 20 to 50 people, and this workshop, we had over 300 people,” says Haberstroh. “It’s been an intense year.”
Harassment can take many forms, such as doxxing (maliciously posting someone’s private or personal information). Some researchers also receive huge numbers of Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests, which some believe are being used as a weapon to challenge or censor researchers working on politically sensitive topics, by slowing down their work by making them respond to requests, including those asking to see their personal messages. The University of Virginia at Charlottesville reportedly received 849 FOIA requests from January 1 to November 5, 2025 — up from 786 requests in 2024 (see go.nature.com/48gtnwa).
Students in the United States are also increasingly making secret recordings of lecturers in classrooms and posting them on social media, where videos can become fodder for politicization.
There are even “watch lists” of allegedly “left-leaning” professors (see go.nature.com/4q6yho2). After the killing of US conservative activist Charlie Kirk last September, there was an increase in circulating watch lists of faculty and scholars who would be targeted, says Isaac Kamula, who studies higher education policy at Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut. As of early December 2025, David Langkamp, program coordinator at the American Association of University Professors in Washington, D.C., has documented 52 incidents of sanctions — including suspensions and investigations — imposed on faculty members in the wake of Kirk’s death.
Online Harassment: A Toolkit to Protect Yourself from Abuse
Researchers working in politically charged fields, or who are active on social media or in public discourse, are on the front lines of harassment and intimidation campaigns. One of the climate scientists we spoke to nature They have, on the condition of anonymity, taken a variety of fascinating and unorthodox steps to protect themselves in recent years. Their office location is not shared online and they have taken their name out the door. They also set up alerts for their names on the dark web, created Google alerts for their name, address and phone number, and took their climate discussions to the California-based encrypted messaging app Signal. Their near-term security goal is to pay off their mortgage as soon as possible so they can list their home in a separate trust to protect their title.
nature I spoke to Kamola, Haberstroh and other privacy professionals about key steps academics can take — as well as technology and tools they can use — to better protect their digital security. Here are their key recommendations.
Assess your risks
“Everyone should start with a risk assessment,” Kamola says. Consider a range of digital vulnerabilities — outdated software, weak passwords, cloud services, social media profiles — and then take steps to mitigate the risks.
The first step is simple: “It’s a good practice to set up a Google alert for your name,” says Haberstroh. This will help to mark, for example, new mentions on websites or watchlists.
But also think about the many ways you can leave a digital footprint. Platforms such as LinkedIn and the US mobile payment service Venmo “can leak a lot of personal information,” says Haberstroh. So do food delivery apps: “Every time you order food, you’re putting data out into the world,” says Aaron Russell, a sociologist at Portland State University in Oregon. Individuals are advised to cut out non-essential digital services, as they can vary significantly in their data protection protocols.
Keep personal data private
Be aware of laws that can be applied to your research and teaching. In the United States, “if you work at a public university, anything you write that is transmitted to someone else using channels like email, or stored on your university’s licensed copy of Dropbox, may be subject to the Freedom of Information Act or could be made available to the federal government,” explains Brett Paris, an information researcher at Rutgers University in New Brunswick, New Jersey, “so be careful.”
In other words, keep personal information in your personal email. If a university email address is the target of a FOIA request, anything in your archive — whether it’s about general university business, personal health or court documents — could become public record, Russell says.
Encrypt your communications
If privacy is a concern for your email and messages, consider encrypted options like Signal, Riseup, and Switzerland-based email company Proton Mail. Riseup is a non-profit organization that offers privacy-focused email, a virtual private network (VPN), and other collaboration tools for secure communication. If you’re worried that someone might be tracking your phone, a VPN — or even just rebooting your phone at regular intervals — can reduce the risk, Russell says.
Protect yourself – and your data – with these cybersecurity tips
It’s also worth exploring crypto alternatives to popular collaboration tools. Russell says privacy and security concerns for some video conferencing platforms have prompted some individuals to switch to them Jitsia crypto and open source (and free) alternative. As with Signal, the online meeting room disappears once the meeting ends. Likewise, instead of Google Docs and Sheets, some researchers prefer cryptpadan encrypted, open-source collection of spreadsheets, dashboards, and text tools, which allows users to edit files simultaneously.
Whatever apps you choose, Haberstroh and others encourage you to use a unique, long password and two-factor authentication when possible. Use a password manager like 1Password to keep your login details organized.
And consider using a YubiKey, a physical dongle that plugs into your computer’s USB port to open certain files or accounts. “This is the most secure form of two-factor authentication,” says Haberstroh. It’s not necessary for everyone, but “particularly in the last year, we’ve seen more situations where academics working on high-stakes topics are using YubiKey.”