Social media companies have failed to protect the public from “super-spreaders” of false climate narratives while taking millions from Big Oil to run fossil fuel propaganda ads, according to a new report from the Climate Action Against Disinformation coalition (CAAD). The report, released during the annual UN climate negotiations COP29, found that eight fossil fuel advertisers paid Meta at least $17.6 million for over 700 million impressions in the past year to promote disinformation that undermines climate action. Sean Buchan, CAAD Intelligence Unit Coordinator, stated, “For the third year running, CAAD has documented millions of dollars of fossil fuel advertising around COP.
While the world meets to try to keep the Paris Agreement promise, the fossil fuel industry pollutes the information ecosystem to cloud our minds.”
The spread of false content online has hampered the public response to multiple extreme weather events in 2024. Conspiracy theories about wildfires being used to clear land for renewables and viral claims led to widespread misinformation, even endangering US Federal Emergency Management Agency workers. Internet discussions about wildfires have increasingly been linked to conspiracy theories about geoengineering and schemes by governments or “elites.”
Misinformation targeting renewable energy sources, particularly wind, solar, and electric vehicles (EVs), has shown remarkable consistency.
Big Oil’s media disinformation campaign
Debunked talking points, such as misleading claims that these technologies are ineffective, unreliable, harmful, excessively expensive, or negatively impact animals and natural ecosystems, continue to gain significant traction online. Some high-traction posts falsely claimed that hurricanes were engineered to devastate North Carolina for a lithium mining operation.
The report calls for Big Tech to address these issues, as both Big Oil and Big Tech are enabling a continuous reinterpretation of extreme weather events into arguments against climate action. Social media companies are also reducing transparency by shutting down access to data, making it more difficult for research efforts to quantify the scale of the disinformation problem on their platforms. To improve information integrity, the report encourages efforts like public campaigns and legislation designed to holistically address climate disinformation while removing the economic incentives to spread such false narratives.
These actions are necessary to protect public health and accelerate climate action globally.
Rashan is a seasoned technology journalist and visionary leader serving as the Editor-in-Chief of DevX.com, a leading online publication focused on software development, programming languages, and emerging technologies. With his deep expertise in the tech industry and her passion for empowering developers, Rashan has transformed DevX.com into a vibrant hub of knowledge and innovation. Reach out to Rashan at [email protected]
