How to respond to legal threats, lawsuits, and governmental inquiries

Join CSLDF for How to respond to legal threats, lawsuits, and governmental inquiries, part of the symposium Analyzing Anti-science Attacks to Defend our Field

During the COVID-19 pandemic, public health agencies, scientists received unprecedented levels of hostility. Increasingly polarized politics around the world, rapid communication through online outlets, and well-funded campaigns of mis- and disinformation exacerbated the threats that scientists and public health workers now deal with on a daily basis. The policy changes in the US government have severely damaged scientific capacity across sectors, particularly those focused on public health or medicine. Layoffs, administrative interference, and propaganda campaigns have further eroded basic functions of all aspects of infectious disease research.

In this symposium we hear diverse perspectives on the impact of disinformation on scientific fields. This includes talks that lay out the pattern of specific attacks, including online threats, lawsuits, investigations, punitive policy changes, reductions in force, and harmful government actions, how organizations and individuals responded to them, and ultimately the success or failure of different approaches. We hear from scientists, science communicators, and disinformation experts on how to challenge false narratives, misinformation, and conspiracy-based reports. We hear from organizations that provide legal support to targeted scientists. Finally, we propose hosting a lively discussion aimed toward mobilizing as a scientific community against these threats to the profession.

Click here for more information on the symposium and the ASTMH Annual Meeting.