More than 90% of environmental defenders and climate activists worldwide have faced online harassment – most often on Facebook. Activists reported threats, online discrediting, and sometimes real harm suffered offline. Most abuses occurred on Facebook, WhatsApp, and Instagram, as well as on X (formerly Twitter), writes GlobalWitness, reports UNN.
Details
Global Witness commissioned the first global survey of land and environmental defenders and climate activists about their online experiences. More than 200 land and environmental defenders from six continents participated. Almost all of them reported online attacks related to their activities.
The study also showed that online violence is increasingly turning into real-life threats, and Meta's social networks – Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp – are most often used for harassment.
Scale of the problem
92% of surveyed activists said they had experienced online bullying or threats;
- 63% fear for their safety;
- 45% experienced a decrease in work efficiency due to psychological pressure;
- 75% of those who suffered real harm link it to previous online attacks;
Eco-activists from different countries share such examples:
Online threats made us fear for our lives. We felt defenseless
They wrote to me: "Next time I see you, I'll run you over."
The most dangerous online space
Meta's social networks are most often mentioned among the platforms where online attacks occur:
- Facebook - 62%;
- X (Twitter) - 37%;
- WhatsApp - 36%;
- Instagram - 26%.
Despite the scale of the problem, only 12% of victims were satisfied with the platforms' response to complaints. 91% of respondents believe that social networks should do more to protect activists.
Other reasons for persecution
Also, one of the most common forms of violence was gender-based harassment – about a quarter of surveyed women reported being targeted because of their sex or gender identity. This often manifests in the form of insults, sexualized comments, or humiliation in public spaces.
Equally alarming is the trend towards the criminalization of activists. A third of the survey participants received threats of lawsuits or detentions, and some actually experienced arrests or official pressure. At the same time, many reported organized smear campaigns that started online but later took real, dangerous forms.
Fatricia from Indonesia told how unknown individuals posted her personal photos with fake captions, trying to humiliate her publicly and silence her. Another activist, Sharanya from India, noted that after a wave of online threats, she began to be persecuted in real life – she was followed, intimidated, and stones were thrown at her windows.
Responsibility for attacks partly lies with the platforms themselves
Many of those surveyed are convinced that responsibility for such attacks partly lies with the platforms themselves. Two-thirds believe that social media algorithms, focused on monetization, as well as weak moderation, contribute to the spread of hatred and disinformation.
Platforms care more about "freedom of speech" for aggressors than about the safety of people fighting for the planet's life
Experts call on large digital companies to take more responsibility: review moderation policies, invest in security, and create real mechanisms for user protection. Meta, TikTok, and Google, however, only provided links to existing rules but did not publicly react to the study's conclusions.
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