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Twitter has always been a hotspot for climate change misinformation.
Under new owner Elon Musk, misinformation about global warming is spreading at a breakneck pace.
According to a study of climate-related conversations shared exclusively with USA TODAY, claims questioning climate change are circulating on the social media platform.
The new report echoes recent research showing an increase in climate misinformation since Musk bought the company in October.
Tweets using terms associated with climate denial such as “climate fraud”, “climate hoax” and “climate scam” more than tripled in 2022, up 300% from 2021, according to Advance Democracy, a research organization who studies misinformation.
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The most widely shared tweets weren’t labeled, despite Twitter’s policy to that effect, according to the review.
Twitter’s media relations department, which was drained after Musk bought the social media platform, did not respond to a USA TODAY request for comment.
“Musk openly encouraged attacks on mainstream science”
“Musk has openly encouraged attacks on mainstream science with his own posts, brought back previously banned anti-science promotion accounts, and changed the site’s algorithm in a way that severely limits the reach of mainstream climate communicators. “, Michael Mann, director of the Penn Center for Science, Sustainability & the Media at the University of Pennsylvania, told USA TODAY.
According to John Cook, a researcher at Monash University.
These bot attacks and critics have driven some climate scientists off the platform, says Michelle Amazeen, director of the Communication Research Center at Boston University.
Daniel Jones, president of Advance Democracy, says his research group has also seen increases on TikTok and YouTube.
“Last year, social media companies announced additional steps to combat the proliferation of climate change misinformation on their platforms. Despite these steps, Advance Democracy found that in almost all cases, the proliferation of climate change Climate change denialist content has increased over the past year, and in many cases dramatically,” Jones told USA TODAY.
The wave of misinformation alarms climatologists
Climate change is one of the most controversial debates raging on social media.
Scientists say that global warming is mainly caused by human activities that emit heat-trapping greenhouse gases. Effects include sea level rise, drought, wildfires, increased precipitation, and wetter hurricanes.
Climate science deniers are using social media to undermine the overwhelming evidence of human involvement in climate change. “Sensational, controversial and emotionally evocative content” eclipses scientific discoveries on most platforms, Amazeen said.
For years, climate scientists have urged social media companies to identify and remove posts and videos that deny climate change, challenge its causes or downplay its effects. Despite company policies to flag content that denies climate change, social media posts often lack warning labels or links to credible information.
Cook says he fears the rapidly accelerating spread of climate misinformation will further erode public understanding of climate change and public trust in science and scientists.
How climate change got so hot on Twitter
The rise in climate denial content on Twitter began in July when President Joe Biden unveiled plans to tackle climate change with executive actions, Advance Democracy has found. The number of tweets containing terms of climate change denial exploded in November at a United Nations climate conference.
Three of the 10 most retweeted English-language Twitter posts mentioning climate change either suggest climate change doesn’t exist or is a media-driven narrative, according to Advance Democracy.
Although Twitter hasn’t changed its policy on climate change misinformation under Musk’s ownership, tweets dismissing climate change science have risen sharply, according to research by City, University of London conducted for The Times newspaper. .
Much of this increase is linked to the “climate scam” hashtag which accounts for around 40% of tweets containing climate-skeptical language, up from 2% before 2022, researchers Max Falkenberg and Andrea Baronchelli found.
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Musk fired the sustainability team working on a Twitter account, @TwitterEarth, which was launched in November as the “voice of COP27” ahead of the start of the UN climate conference.
“Climate denial on Twitter was already a dumpster fire; now it’s like a liter of gasoline has been thrown on it,” climatologist Katharine Hayhoe told The Times.
YouTube, TikTok and Facebook and climate change denial
Youtube: According to Advance Democracy, a search of 10 phrases associated with climate change denial resulted in an information panel containing scientific facts about climate change.
When searching for four common climate change denial phrases, YouTube showed climate denial ads, including a video denying the role of human activity in climate change, according to the study.
YouTube says the Climate Change News Panel that provides context on climate change from third-party sources now appears at the top of search results for these queries.
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“Additionally, we have removed a number of the ads discussed in the report, consistent with our climate change denial advertising and monetization policies,” YouTube spokeswoman Elena Hernandez said in a statement.
ICT Tac: Videos using seven hashtags associated with climate change denial were viewed at least 4.9 million times more in 2022 than the year before, according to the study.
None of the hashtag searches were identified as a potential source of misinformation, Advance Democracy said.
Three of the hashtags were removed after USA TODAY requested comment from TikTok.
Facebook: Posts containing terms associated with climate change denial decreased by 14%. But, Advance Democracy said, none of the most popular posts denying or downplaying climate change risks linked to Facebook’s Climate Science Information Center.
