Climate Misinformation on the Rise

“Debating” fascists, racists, and liars only gives them a mouthpiece to spout their nonsense. With everyone (rightly) up in arms over Jubilee’s most recent video featuring Medhi Hasan, let’s look at the rising tide of climate misinformation on similar platforms.

• Fossil fuel-linked groups spent $4 million on Facebook and Instagram ads in the lead up to the 2022 United Nations’ climate change conference.

• Seven Facebook pages account for 78% of climate misinformation ad spend.

• Ten publishers are responsible for 69% of Facebook’s climate change denial content.

• Meta platforms are bastions of distortion, with one study reporting 25 million views of climate-related misinformation over a short two-month period on Facebook alone.

• And let’s not forget the endless carousel of dodgy charts, cherry-picked quotes, and flat-out nonsense going viral daily.

Behind the stats are often cashed up greenscamming groups funded by vested interests like the fossil fuel lobby. Media and influencers unknowingly help push the message because if it bleeds, it reads.

The constant drumbeat of negativity is fuelling a dangerous uptick in eco-anxiety and climate doomism. This paralyses action and breeds apathy. Worst of all, it crowds out the very real progress being made.

Let’s not be naïve. There’s certainly a lot of work to be done. But great things are happening too. That’s why the truth matters. When misinformation and fear dominate the narrative, they create space for bad-faith actors to pose as experts and hijack the conversation.

Let’s stop giving the mic to misinformation.

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