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Science vs. social media: Why climate change denial still thrives online

From	useapen <yourdime@outlook.com>
Newsgroups	alt.journalism.criticism, misc.news.internet.discuss, alt.writing.scams, alt.fan.rush-limbaugh, talk.politics.guns, sac.politics
Subject	Science vs. social media: Why climate change denial still thrives online
Date	2024-01-21 06:16 +0000
Organization	A noiseless patient Spider
Message-ID	<XnsB0FFE2843415BBX@135.181.20.170> (permalink)
Cross-posted to 6 groups.
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Social media is still not doing enough to stop misinformation denying the 
existence and causes of climate change. 

That’s the finding of a review of climate-related conversations on social 
media platforms by the public interest research organization Advance 
Democracy.

Despite company pledges to crack down, falsehoods, hoaxes and conspiracy 
theories circulated with few warning labels or links to credible 
information in 2023, contributing to a dramatic surge in the number of 
posts denying climate change last year, according to the report shared 
exclusively with USA TODAY.

Nowhere was that surge more evident than on X, formerly Twitter, where the 
number of posts containing terms linked to climate change denial more than 
tripled for the second year in a row, Advance Democracy found. 

Advance Democracy saw a significant increase in posts that dismiss climate 
change as an exaggeration or a hoax on Facebook.

Of the 10 Facebook posts with the most interactions, eight either denied 
climate change or promoted conspiracy theories. None included a link to 
Facebook’s Climate Science Information Center or a fact check.

TikTok also failed to rein in falsehoods. Even after the short-form video 
platform adopted a policy prohibiting climate misinformation last year, 
videos that deny or downplay climate change were viewed millions of times 
on the app.

Advance Democracy says that in its review only YouTube has improved. Eight 
of nine specific climate change denial phrases identified in Advance 
Democracy’s 2022 report are now accompanied by scientific information on 
climate change on the platform.

“When it comes to misinformation about climate change, YouTube’s systems 
work to raise up content from high-quality sources in search results and 
recommendations," YouTube said in a statement to USA TODAY, adding that it 
strives to "connect viewers to additional context from third parties like 
the United Nations."

The other companies - X, Facebook and TikTok - did not comment directly on 
the Advance Democracy report.

The stakes have never been higher, according to Michael Mann, a climate 
scientist and professor at the University of Pennsylvania.

Climate change is one of the most contentious debates raging on social 
media platforms which have emerged as a critical battleground to control 
the narrative about climate change – especially for the TikTok generation, 
Mann said.

"Social media is a primary means by which young people - those most likely 
to see the worst consequences of climate change - get their information 
today," he said. "This trend suggests that bad actors have made a 
concerted effort to weaponize social media in a way that is especially 
targeted toward young people."

For years, climate scientists have pushed social media companies to 
identify and remove posts and videos denying climate change, disputing its 
causes, or underplaying its effects. 

Social media companies say their policies prohibit climate change 
misinformation that undermines scientific consensus - such as denying the 
existence of climate change or the factors that contribute to it - while 
allowing discussions about climate change policies or personal views about 
extreme weather events.

John Cook, a senior research fellow at the University of Melbourne in 
Australia, says the rising wave of climate misinformation shows that 
companies are still not taking the threat of climate misinformation 
seriously enough.

“What the platforms are doing is inadequate,” Cook said.

After years of building robust content moderation systems, social media 
companies facing political pressure and economic headwinds have pulled 
back on gatekeeping, part of an industry trend that some fear could roll 
back safeguards that clamp down on misinformation.

X has not changed its official policy on climate change misinformation 
under the new ownership of Elon Musk, who took over the platform in 
October 2022. But Musk has gutted the platform’s content moderation 
operations and slashed staff responsible for monitoring misinformation. 

“The rollback of moderation policies and the apparent reduction of content 
moderation staff appears to have had a substantial impact on the 
prevalence of climate change misinformation on social media platforms,” 
Daniel Jones, president of Advance Democracy, told USA TODAY.

Social media posts reviewed by Advance Democracy are routinely peppered 
with references to “climate scam” and “climate cult” or claims that global 
warming is a hoax or that climate scientists are con artists.

When smoke from Canadian wildfires blanketed much of the U.S. last year, 
for example, conspiracy theorists falsely claimed that the fires were 
intentionally set to promote a fake climate emergency.

Though the public perception of climate change is shifting, it remains a 
politically divisive issue, with Democrats and Republicans growing further 
apart in the last decade in how they gauge the threat, according to the 
Pew Research Center.

Nearly 8 in 10 Democrats (78%) say climate change is a major threat to the 
country, up from about 6 in 10 a decade ago. About 1 in 4 Republicans 
describe climate change as a major threat, about the same as 10 years ago.

Few in the GOP deny that burning oil, gas and coal has produced gasses 
that are heating the planet but many climate skeptics see the proposed 
solutions – weaning off fossil fuels in favor of solar, wind and other 
energy sources – as a threat to the economy and Americans’ livelihoods and 
freedoms.

“Social media is a primary means by which young people – those most likely 
to see the worst consequences of climate change – get their information 
today,” Mann said. 

Scientists say the warming of the planet is chiefly caused by human 
activities that emit heat-trapping greenhouse gasses. The effects include 
higher sea levels, drought, wildfires, increased precipitation and wetter 
hurricanes.

Climate skeptics use social media to undercut evidence of human 
involvement in climate change. Their tactics are often effective, 
misleading people and chilling debate, said Cook of the University of 
Melbourne.

The unchecked wave of climate misinformation is further eroding public 
understanding of climate change and public trust in science and 
scientists, researchers warn. 

The Center for Countering Digital Hate which recently reviewed videos on 
YouTube found that climate change skeptics are switching tactics to 
discredit the climate solutions proposed by scientists and the scientists 
themselves. 

https://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/news/2024/01/19/climate-change-denial-
spreading-social-media/72257689007/
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