In a mediatised society, people seek information about climate change and protection measures from the mass media. The controversy about certain current climate activism and their polarising forms of protest could explain why hate comments against activists frequently accompany coverage in user forums on news media sites. Following Anderson et al. (2014), we investigate to what extent the so-called “Nasty Effect”, the influence of uncivil language, impacts attitudes towards the reported issue. This paper delves into the influence of different types of hate speech within online user comments, using Bahador’s hate speech classification system on the credibility of news articles concerning climate protection and activism. The study’s research questions revolve around the impact of hate speech comments on article credibility, individual attitudes towards climate protection measures, and the role of individual attributes in shaping perceptions of climate reporting and climate protection support. The between-subject research design (six treatment groups, one control group) was conducted via an online survey distributed in Austria in autumn 2023 (N=486). The study’s findings reveal that as hate speech intensifies, the perceived credibility of the related news articles diminishes. While the overall mean values did not yield significant differences, individual assessments in comparison to the control group were significant. Explicit hate speech comments had a more pronounced negative effect on the article’s credibility. The influence of neutral comments remained inconclusive. In conclusion, this study provides insights into the intricate relationship between different types of hate speech in user comments and the credibility of climate journalism, emphasising the role of intensity and individual attributes. The absence of an apparent “Nasty Effect” underscores the complexity of this phenomenon and its nuanced impact on public attitudes.