Climate denial spreads on Facebook as scientists face restrictions – Company overrules scientific fact-checking group, which had flagged information as misleading

By Scott Waldman
6 July 2020

(E&E News) – A climate scientist says Facebook is restricting her ability to share research and fact-check posts containing climate misinformation.

Those constraints are occuring as groups that reject climate science increasingly use the platform to promote misleading theories about global warming.

The groups are using Facebook to mischaracterize mainstream research by claiming that reduced consumption of fossil fuels won’t help address climate change. Some say the planet and people are benefitting from the rising volume of carbon dioxide that’s being released into the atmosphere.

Facebook is an effective way to expand their reach to larger audiences, say members of the groups, which have traditionally been tied to conservative media outlets. In recent weeks, tens of thousands of people have been exposed to misleading and false claims about rising temperatures, according to an E&E News analysis.

Now, Facebook appears to be weakening a firewall it has built to fact-check such climate denialism. The company recently overruled a fact-check from a group of climate scientists, in a move that concerns researchers about a potentially new precedent by the platform that permits inaccurate claims to be promoted if they’re labeled as opinions.

At the same time, Facebook has placed restrictions on one of the country’s most visible climate scientists, Katharine Hayhoe, of Texas Tech University and a lead author of the Fourth National Climate Assessment. She has been blocked from promoting videos related to climate research, a move that has limited her efforts to refute false claims.

Facebook has previously identified Hayhoe’s educational climate videos as “political.” As a result, they are categorized by the platform as a social issue that requires Hayhoe to register them by in part providing personal information that she fears could expose her to personal attacks. […]

“What I share on Facebook is explicitly for the purpose of people feeling comfortable sharing it with their family, information on positive hopeful solutions, information on unexpected messengers from faith groups, the military, conservative spokespeople,” Hayhoe said. “Facebook is a place where people are connected across tribal lines in a way they aren’t connected from other platforms.”

A sampling of recent posts from groups that reject climate science reveal their use of misleading claims to reach tens of thousands of followers, who often reshare the content with their own contacts.

They include groups that have received funding from the fossil fuel industry as well as foundations that oppose environmental regulations. Some of them have worked to confuse the public about the scientific consensus around climate change. […]

E&E News previously reported that Facebook intervened to reverse a fact-check that prevented a group—which claims that human-caused carbon dioxide is beneficial—from advertising on the site. By labeling the false claim as “opinion,” Facebook permitted the group, named the CO₂ Coalition, to resume promoting misinformation (Climatewire, 23 June 2020). [more]

Climate Denial Spreads on Facebook as Scientists Face Restrictions