Resources for Researchers and Scholars under Threat in the United States

National Academies Committee on Human Rights - this was published over a year ago, but seems very relevant right now...

Resources for Researchers and Scholars under Threat in the United States

Researchers and scholars have long been targeted in connection with their professional work. In recent years, such attacks have taken on new dimensions, fueled in part by increased use of social media and other digital means of communication.  Recognizing that targeting comes in many forms and from a variety of actors, the Committee on Human Rights of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences, National Academy of Engineering, and National Academy of Medicine has identified an array of resources meant to support researchers and scholars in preventing and responding to targeted attacks.

The Committee on Human Rights advocates in support of colleagues subjected to serious human rights abuses worldwide, assists professional colleagues under threat, and raises awareness of issues at the intersection of science, technology, health, and human rights. For more information on its work, and monthly updates on other news and information at the intersection of human rights and STEMM, join the CHR mailing list.

• Where to Go for Support

• Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS)
  As part of its efforts to promote independent science, UCS works to support scientists that come under attack. The 2020 edition of the UCS guide, Science in an Age of Scrutiny: How Scientists Can Respond to Criticism and Personal Attacks, was created to help scientists who find themselves in the spotlight make smart decisions about how to respond. The guide offers checklists of steps scientists should take (and avoid) when confronted with several different kinds of scrutiny. UCS also maintains a running list of attacks on science.

• Climate Science Legal Defense Fund (CSLDF)
  CSLDF protects the scientific endeavor by putting its legal expertise to work for scientists who are threatened or silenced due to their findings or fields of study. It provides a range of free legal services to help scientists understand their rights and responsibilities, including threatened and actual legal proceedings. It has produced a number of guides to help scientists under threat navigate their situations, including on political harassment and intimidation, scientific integrity policies, the first amendment, safeguarding online communications, open records laws, and safely engaging in advocacy and protests.  Along with Columbia University’s Sabin Center for Climate Change Law, CSLDF also maintains a Silencing Science Tracker, which records reports of federal, state, and local government attempts to “silence science.” Note that while CSLDF primarily provides support to climate and environmental scientists, their educational resources are designed to apply to all scientists, and they also provide assistance to scientists in other disciplines on a case-by-case basis.

• Government Accountability Project (GAP)
  Government Accountability Project is a non-profit, non-partisan legal and advocacy organization that promotes corporate and government accountability by protecting whistleblowers and leveraging their verified disclosures through a combination of legislative initiatives, litigation, investigation, and strategic advocacy. Its areas of expertise include public health; energy, environment, and climate change; food safety; and immigration detention abuses, among others. GAP has represented hundreds of science-related whistleblowers since its inception in 1977, and offers free resources about whistleblowing as well as legal assistance.

• Asian American Justice Center (AAJC)
  AAJC’s Anti-Racial Profiling Project offers an array of resources and legal referrals for individuals who have been impacted by actions targeting Asian American and Asian immigrant scientists and researchers in the United States. In addition to providing legal referrals, AAJC engages in educational awareness-raising and policy and advocacy efforts around racial profiling issues and for impacted scientists and researchers.

• Asian American Scholar Forum (AASF)
  The AASF works to advocate for and protect the rights of Asian American scholars. Its Legal Defense and Education Fund (LDEF) assists scholars facing potential discrimination with their legal fees and knowing their rights with law enforcement. AASF also helps provide scholars a voice before Congress and the federal government, rebuild the reputations of such scholars, and provide support for job reinstatement at their universities.

• Additional Resources for Threatened Scientists

• Access Now
  Access Now, a global digital rights organization, works to help people and communities improve their digital security practices. Its Digital Security Helpline is available (help@accessnow.org) for individuals and groups in civil society to prepare against digital attacks and to receive rapid-response emergency assistance. Access Now provides an array of additional resources, including a guide on preventing doxing, and helped produce a digital first aid kit, the latter of which touches on actions to take if subjected to online harassment, a defamation campaign, or other common attacks.

• American Association of University Professors (AAUP)
  AAUP has produced guidance on fighting targeted harassment of faculty, which includes information on addressing online harassment and protecting academic freedom, among other topics.

• Data & Society
  Data & Society, a nonprofit working on issues related to data and emerging technologies, has produced a paper, “Best Practices for Conducting Risky Research and Protecting Yourself from Online Harassment,” that provides recommendations for protecting oneself when conducting research that may make one particularly susceptible to online abuse.

• Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF)
  EFF works to defend civil liberties in a digital world. Its Surveillance Self-Defense expert guide provides information about online surveillance and includes information on various “security scenarios,” such as those faced by academic researchers and reproductive care providers and recipients, to help members of these groups assess and address the specific security risks they may encounter.

• National Coalition Against Censorship (NCAC)
  NCAC provides information on science and censorship and encourages those affected to report incidents of scientific censorship. The organization also provides resources on censorship in higher education.

• PEN America
  PEN America has developed multiple resources useful to writers, scientists, and academics experiencing online abuse, including a Field Manual against online harassment (in English, French, Spanish, Arabic, & Swahili), a training program, and a video series, Digital Safety Snacks, offering strategies for defending yourself and others online. PEN America’s “online abuse” webpage houses these and other resources on the topic.

These resources were not produced by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine and do not necessarily represent the views of the institution.