Revealed: the US government-funded ‘private social network’ attacking pesticide critics

Network includes derogatory profiles of figures such as UN experts and food writer Michael Pollan, and is part of an effort to downplay pesticide dangers, records suggest

In 2017, two United Nations experts called for a treaty to strictly regulate dangerous pesticides, which they said were a global human rights concern", citing scientific research showing pesticides can cause cancers, Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's and other health problems.

Publicly, the pesticide industry's lead trade association dubbed the recommendations unfounded and sensational assertions". In private, industry advocates have gone further.