X (Twitter) is the social network that most supports disinformation about climate change.

X, the social network that was until recently called Twitter, received the worst rating for climate change-related misinformation on social media. Climate Action Against Disinformation (CAAD), a global coalition of more than 50 organizations, uses a 21-point scale. Twitter owned by Elon Musk He scored only 1 point for his few policies aimed at reducing the amount of false or inaccurate information.

The coalition in which Greenpeace participates also analyzed Meta, Pinterest, YouTube and TikTok. And his verdict is disappointing: he argues that the mainstream platforms have become “complicit” in climate denial. Because Twitter was the worst and the rest were not successful.

Twitter’s poor ranking has a lot to do with Elon Musk. The report noted that the company’s purchase “created uncertainty about which policies will remain in place and which will not.” CAAD explains that some of the measures the social network took before Musk’s arrival were beneficial in combating disinformation about climate change. For example, banning misleading advertising that contradicts the scientific consensus on the issue.

But “many policies no longer apply.” This was reported by a group of organizations with reference to external sources. Thus, unlike most of the other four platforms, CAAD emphasized that Twitter does not have a specific policy against climate change misinformation. It also doesn’t have a clear process for reporting misleading or harmful content. She was the only one of the five who did not receive a grade at this stage.

The only point in favor that Twitter received was that the network has an easily accessible and readable privacy policy. Only Pinterest also met this condition.

Platforms promoting disinformation about climate change

Evaluation of the rest four platforms moved between 6 and 12 points. Next to Twitter at the bottom of the rankings is YouTube. The coalition emphasized that Google’s video portal, while it has advertising policies limiting climate denialism, does not have policies regarding organic user-generated content.

In fact, in 2021, YouTube announced that it would not allow climate deniers to make money on its platform. However, some deniers have continued to do so this year, it is reported. New York Times in May.

Pinterest got the best rating: He scored 12 of 21 points. It is the only platform that, for example, intends to define climate change misinformation in detail in its community guidelines. Also the only one to publish an annual report on climate misinformation trends. Other platforms identify misinformation in general rather than specifically about climate.

But overall, almost everyone failed. Meta received 8 points, and TikTok received 9. The coalition insists there are no clear guidelines regarding climate change disinformation. They are also calling for privacy policies to be updated to show when private data is sold to advertisers linked to the fossil fuel industry.

CAAD was created in 2021. By then, environmental groups were concerned about misinformation surrounding the UN climate summit in Scotland that year.