El Harassment of meteorologists and climate change experts It has ceased to be an isolated phenomenon and has become a structural problem that is gaining strength on social media. In recent years, professionals who explain extreme weather events or global warming to the public have been subjected to waves of insults, coordinated campaigns and threats that go far beyond reasonable debate.
Faced with this situation, the Government has decided to take a further step and inform the Hate Crimes Prosecutor's Office These dynamics of harassment. The Third Vice President and Minister for Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge, Sara Aagesen, has announced the sending of a formal letter detailing the patterns of these attacks and attaching academic and verification reports that document the rise of climate denial and hate speech against those who fight it with data.
The Government's letter to the Hate Crimes Prosecutor's Office
The letter being prepared by the Executive branch seeks to ensure that The Prosecutor's Office should be aware of this. that harassment campaigns against meteorologists, science journalists, and climate communicators are becoming an everyday reality. These are not simply polarized discussions: in many cases, those affected describe explicit threats, repeated insults, and personal attacks which end up affecting their professional work and even their private life.
As Aagesen explained, the goal is for this phenomenon to remain recorded in the annual report of the Prosecutor's Officewhere new circumstances are outlined that could fall under criminal offenses related to hate or discrimination. The Executive's intention is not to highlight critical opinions, but to warn of the existence of organized harassment campaigns that are systematically directed against those who communicate climate science.
The minister stressed that many of those affected feel without clear tools to defend themselvesThey denounce the fact that, given the volume and aggressiveness of the attacks, it is difficult for platforms, administrations, or courts to act quickly. Therefore, the letter also aims to be a kind of institutional wake-up call to open the debate on the issue. new forms of protection against these campaigns.
The text emphasizes that the attacks are not only directed at specific individuals, but also at... public institutions and bodies who work in meteorology or climate outreach. It is alleged that these entities are being targeted. discrediting strategy which attempts to sow doubt about the validity of scientific data and official weather warnings.
The letter ultimately seeks to provide the Public Prosecutor's Office with detailed information about the magnitude of the harassment of meteorologists and science communicators and be able to assess whether these behaviors should be considered, in certain cases, as hate crimes or other related criminal offenses.
The AEMET case and harassment due to extreme phenomena
One of the examples most frequently mentioned by the Government is that of the State Meteorological Agency (AEMET)In recent episodes of extreme weather events, such as the Valencia danaThe agency's spokespeople received thousands of messages on social media filled with hate and personal attacks, to the point of including threats of death and accusations without any scientific basis.
These episodes highlight how, when communicating a intense weather episode Or, if its possible connection to climate change is not explained, a denialist sector responds by organizing massive harassment campaignsThe objective doesn't seem to be so much to discuss the data, but to intimidate those who disseminate it and generate a climate of fear that will ultimately to silence certain voices in the public debate.
In the case of AEMET, the attacks are not limited to criticism of a specific forecast. The agency's very reason for being is frequently questioned, and misinformation is disseminated. hoaxes about alleged data manipulation and attempts are made to link their work to political conspiracies or hidden interests. This dynamic has led some of their spokespeople to acknowledge that, before publishing information, they assess the potential a barrage of insults that can be triggered.
For the scientific and meteorological community, these episodes represent an added risk: if those who are supposed to inform the public about dangerous phenomena They are pressured by hate campaigns, which can negatively impact the quality and clarity of the ads, precisely at a time when the Extreme events are becoming more frequent for the global warming.
Hence, the AEMET case is cited as a paradigmatic example in the letter to the Prosecutor's Office. It is considered to reflect a broader trend in which institutions working with scientific data are becoming the preferred target of the denialist and conspiracy-theory speeches that are amplified through networks.
Academic reports documenting harassment and denialism
The government's initiative is not based solely on individual testimonies. The letter to be sent to the Prosecutor's Office includes references to several academic and verification studies who have analyzed in detail how climate denial groups operate in Spain, especially in the digital environment.
Among the highlighted documents is a 124-page report from the Ecodes platformThis study, focused on disinformation, denialism, and hate speech on social network X, examines how messages denying the reality of climate change are constructed and disseminated, how certain profiles coordinate their activities, and what role they play. algorithms in viralization of misleading or aggressive content, and can be complemented with science documentaries.
A study is also cited from University of Salamanca dedicated to hate speech, anti-climate activism, and climate disinformation on social media. This analysis focuses not only on explicit messages that deny the scientific consensus, but also on more subtle forms of erode trust in scienceresorting to mockery, personal attacks, or conspiracy theories.
Another of the works mentioned has been prepared by the Universities of La Rioja, Valladolid and Cádizand focuses specifically on the hate speech directed against the State Meteorological AgencyThis study details how, following certain weather warnings or reports on climate change, derogatory comments, insults, and unfounded accusations against the organization and its professionals skyrocket.
The letter also includes a report from the verification platform. Damnwho has spent years analyzing climate-related hoaxes and disinformation. Her work shows how certain false claims are They recycle over and over again in different contexts, adapting to each new weather episode to sow doubts about the reality of global warming and, incidentally, question those who explain it.
Social media: X and TikTok, epicenter of hate speech
One of the conclusions shared by these reports is that the Social media has become the main battleground of climate change denial. Platforms such as X and TikTok They concentrate a considerable volume of messages that question climate science, ridicule science communicators, and fuel conspiracy theories.
The studies cited in the letter indicate that, in these networks, almost half of the content related to climate change They include some kind of denialist message. This doesn't mean that everything is openly aggressive, but there is a constant presence of messages that question or trivialize The problem is that it makes it difficult for citizens to easily distinguish between accurate information and hoaxes.
Furthermore, it is observed that a significant portion of the attacks do not focus on the content being discussed, but on the person who issues itInstead of refuting facts or arguments, users choose to insult, ridicule physical appearance, question professional careers, or make personal insinuations. These types of comments form a covert hate speech which, although sometimes presented as humor, ends up creating a hostile environment.
Reports speak of a marked tendency towards anti-intellectualism There is already a growing distrust of scientific expertise. Messages are being detected that label meteorologists and science communicators as "sellouts" or "puppets," implying that they are acting on behalf of hidden political or economic interests. This climate fuels a feeling that science is part of a... plot unrelated to the citizensThis reinforces the rejection of messages about climate change.
For professionals working in climate outreach, this reality translates into a emotional and professional costMany admit they think twice before posting certain content, knowing it could trigger a barrage of attacks, and some have even opted to reduce their presence on social networks or limit their interaction with the public to avoid situations of continuous wear and tear.
Testimonies from broadcasters and a call for greater protection
The announcement that the letter would be sent to the Public Prosecutor's Office came after a meeting between Vice President Aagesen and science communicators specializing in climate changeThis meeting, framed within the dialogues for the State Pact against the Climate Emergency, has served to compile direct experiences of harassment and to listen to proposals on how to improve the protection of those who publicly expose themselves to talk about science.
During the meeting, several communicators recounted how they have had to deal with constant hate messages, campaigns of targeting and, in some cases, the publication of personal data or more serious threats. Many agree that there is a widespread feeling of helplessness, upon realizing that the tools available to stop these attacks are scarce or ineffective.
In this context, a memory was also recalled manifesto promoted by journalists Valentina Raffio and Verónica Pavés, from EL PERIÓDICO and El DÃa de Tenerife, together with the meteorologist Isabel MorenoThe text, supported by more than 40 entities in the field of environmentalism and communication, denounces the rise in harassment campaigns and calls for a more decisive involvement of policymakers, courts and digital platforms.
Among the demands raised are the need to clear protocols for action To combat online harassment, we need faster reporting channels, greater collaboration between government agencies and technology companies, and specific training to detect and manage it. coordinated hate campaignsThe shared feeling is that, without stronger institutional support, many science communicators could end up self-censoring or abandoning key spaces for debate.
The Government, for its part, has shown a willingness to continue collecting testimonies. working with the sector to identify additional measures beyond the letter to the Prosecutor's Office. The idea is that this initiative will not remain a symbolic gesture, but will open the door to concrete actions in different areas: legal, educational, communicative and technological.
The situation described by meteorologists and climate journalists points to a fundamental shift in the public conversation: talking about climate change and extreme weather events It is no longer just a scientific question, but an area where political, economic, and social tensions converge, resulting in direct pressure on those who report.
This whole picture shows that the Harassment of meteorologists and climate scientists This is not an isolated incident, but rather a symptom of how denialism and disinformation have found a powerful platform in social media to challenge science and intimidate its proponents. The government's action in sending a letter to the Public Prosecutor's Office, supported by academic reports and the testimony of dozens of professionals, seeks to open an urgent debate on how to protect those who dedicate themselves to explaining climate and global warming, and on what responsibilities both public institutions and digital platforms must assume to curb the dynamics of hate that jeopardize the quality of information and, ultimately, democratic debate itself.
