Twitter took a new step in the fight against climate change denial. Social network announcement which will ban advertising who promote a point of view that is contrary to the scientific consensus on the ecological crisis. The novelty is part of the commitment made by the platform for Earth Day.
The company’s decision aims to limit the scope of opt-out groups and combines similar decisions already taken by Google and Facebook. Therefore, all advertisements that try to deny or condition the causes and effects of climate change will be subject to Twitter’s inappropriate content policy.
We believe that climate denial should not be monetized on Twitter and that misleading advertising should not detract from important conversations about the climate crisis. It is worth noting that in order to implement this measure, individuals led by Parag Agrawal will use reports Intergovernmental Commission on Climate Changewhich belongs to the United Nations (UN).
However, the platform’s commitment to combating climate change disinformation goes beyond banning negative ads. Twitter also promises that news about new tools for “add credible and authoritative context to conversations” on this topic. “We understand that misleading information about climate change can undermine efforts to protect the planet,” they explained.
Fighting climate change deniers could be the next Twitter controversy
In recent years, we have faced a very strong clash between mainstream social media and denial. This was facilitated by the pandemic with the spread of fake news about COVID-19 and the explosion of anti-vaccination groups. However, crossroads due to climate change are not entirely new and go far beyond the discussions taking place in virtuality.
But Twitter’s ban on climate change-denying ads has already begun to cause a stir among self-proclaimed “free speech advocates.” So it will be interesting to see how this will affect the romance with Elon Musk in the title role in his attempt to buy the company.
The mogul himself has been one of Twitter’s top critics for its apparent lack of free speech. However, he is also one of the main proponents of using renewable energy to protect the environment. Therefore this situation can quickly turn into a heavy contradiction for the CEO of Tesla and SpaceX.
“Sometimes people are sad about the future and wonder if we will solve the problem of energy sustainability, or they think that it is too late because of climate change. I want to reassure them that they can hope for the future, that they should hope for the future. The future problem will be solved and this plant is a big step in that direction,” Musk said recently during the opening of the Gigafactory in Berlin.
In addition, Twitter continues to encourage discussions related to protecting the planet. According to the social network, talk about sustainability increased by 150% on the platform since last year.
Source: Hiper Textual
