Disinformation about climate change continues to spread on social media. Although several companies, including ‘Google,’ ‘YouTube,’ ‘Meta,’ and ‘TikTok,’ have implemented measures to combat it, it is still insufficient. However, it appears that ‘X’ (Twitter) is even more lacking in efforts to combat climate disinformation. A recent study has shown that ‘X’ is the least active among all social networks in addressing climate disinformation.
The coalition of environmental groups and researchers, ‘Climate Action Against Disinformation,’ has recently published a study analyzing how and to what extent online platforms invest resources in combating climate disinformation. Researchers assessed how effectively platforms regulate false climate information, basing their evaluation on the company’s community guidelines, service terms, press releases, news articles, and independent studies.
A maximum of 21 points could be obtained, but none of the online platforms received this score. ‘Pinterest’ received the highest rating, with 12 points, thanks to its previous efforts in combating climate disinformation. Next was ‘TikTok’ with 9 points, while ‘Meta’ platforms ‘Facebook’ and ‘Instagram‘ received 8 points, and ‘YouTube’ received 6 points. However, in the researchers’ view, ‘X’ received the lowest rating, earning only one point and ranking last.
Researchers pointed out that ‘X’ lacks a clear policy on how to handle climate disinformation content. The platform neither regulates nor restricts such content. However, last year, on Earth Day, ‘X’ announced that it would ban advertisements denying scientific consensus on climate change. Yet, there is no information available regarding when this rule will take effect.”