The study focused on three distinct extreme weather events spanning different hazards and countries in Brazil, Peru and Chile. Despite their differences, a common thread emerged: the presence and amplification of misleading narratives that diverted attention from climate-related causes toward false claims of criminal intent, thus misattributing the root causes of the damage and stalling climate action. 

This analysis backs up a series of reports that demonstrate the pervasiveness of climate disinformation in Spanish-speaking communities, and demonstrates a growing trend in extreme weather events being exploited to spread disinformation and advance anti-renewable narratives. Furthermore, resources devoted to the moderation of Spanish disinformation are inadequate, especially when compared to those available for English language moderation. Platforms have taken little action to address this disparity, and newly exposed internal staffing numbers show Spanish content moderation on Twitter gets 1/10th the manpower of English content moderation.

“This research underscores a troubling cycle in which disinformers exploit extreme weather events as opportunities for the proliferation of false information,” said Max MacBride, Counter-Disinformation Lead at Roots, “This, in turn, fuels misconceptions about the causes of these events, deflects attention away from the scientifically established links between climate change and extreme weather, and hinders climate action. Governments and social media companies like Meta and X must take much stronger action to stop the spread of misinformation online.”

“This latest report falls squarely in line with what previous reports have told us: disinformers are capitalizing on extreme weather events to confuse, dupe and con the most vulnerable in our comunidades,” said Edder Díaz Martínez, Communications Manager at GreenLatinos, “It’s time for governments to address this issue and for tech companies to start taking accountability for their shameful neglect of this ongoing problem. Lives are on the line, and we must act now.”

Summary findings are:

• False narratives around the cause of extreme weather events were found in Brazil, Chile and Peru. Disasters were incorrectly attributed to dam breakages, arson and climate research centers studying the atmosphere, reducing focus on inadequate levels of climate action and extreme weather preparedness. 
• Extreme weather disasters are especially susceptible to misinformation because they’re highly visible, multi-causal and very emotionally-driven.
• Misattributing the cause of these disasters sows confusion in online communities and stalls necessary climate action.

“We won’t be able to protect people in Latin America from climate change if professional disinformers keep manipulating weather disasters by gaming social media algorithms,” said Michael Khoo, Climate Disinformation Program Director at Friends of the Earth, “Climate change is an emergency that requires everyone to have access to the truth so we can take strong action. Big Tech platforms like Twitter, Meta and TikTok need to end their complacency in the problem and address climate disinformation in all languages.”

Communications Contact: eseiber@foe.org

The post Report: Disinformation Escalating During Extreme Weather Events in Latin America appeared first on Friends of the Earth.

Rumores Renovables will be featured at an in-person panel discussion hosted by GreenLatinos on September 28th at 12:30pm EST, at the TelevisaUnivision building in Washington D.C.. The panel features disinformation researchers and policy experts who will weigh in on how this new study relates to their current research..

“Rumores Renovables further proves that climate disinformation is a problem that transcends languages,” said Edder-Diaz Martinez, Communications Manager at GreenLatinos, “A small, radical minority is spreading lies in vulnerable communities, capitalizing on extreme weather events to sow doubt in renewable energy, a critical energy source that can save us from future climate disasters. Social media companies must stop treating Spanish speaking communities as second-class citizens and start to enforce stronger community standards to reduce this targeted disinformation.”

The report’s top findings include:

• While much climate disinformation spread originates in English and is translated to Spanish, new insights demonstrate that compared to 2022 disinformation is now also created in Spanish, translated and then goes viral in English.
• Anti-renewable narratives are dominated by right-leaning accounts originating in Spain, with ties to the national conservative party VOX.
• False narratives peak during extreme weather events. As the world sees a rise in extreme weather events exacerbated by climate change, we can expect to see a rise in climate disinformation.
• Climate disinformation discourse is often intertwined with other conspiracies, including those related to COVID and The Great Reset.
• The most common narratives being spread include allegations that forest fires are intentionally set to clear land for renewable energy projects, renewable energies cause harm to animals (specifically whales), renewable technologies (especially solar power) pollute the environment, renewables are unreliable, and renewable energy projects only benefit the wealthy.

Communications Contact: Erika Seiber, eseiber@foe.org

The post Rumores Renovables: New Report Exposes Global Spanish Climate Disinformation Network appeared first on Friends of the Earth.

The report will be released during New York City’s Climate Week, in partnership with the United Nations General Assembly, in which CAAD will host a panel on September 20th. The UN has repeatedly recognized disinformation as an obstacle to climate action, and UN Secretary-General António Guterres has publicly said that Big Tech’s current business model “monetizes anger and negativity are causing untold damage to societies.”

The scorecard comes directly after the E.U.’s Digital Services Act has come into force for 19 designated platforms and search engines, requiring them to address their societal risks. It also comes just after the latest E.U. Code of Practice released its critical assessments of the platforms’ lack of transparency.

“Big Tech is clearly failing to stop the extensive climate misinformation that threatens climate action,” said Erika Seiber, Climate Disinformation spokesperson at Friends of the Earth, “A toxic and fossil-fueled minority is drowning out the voices of science and reason and social media platforms are complicit. The scores in this report are unacceptable, especially in the case of Twitter/X, and should be a wake up call for platforms and regulators to finally take climate misinformation seriously.”

Top findings:

• Pinterest received the most points, leading the industry on policies that mitigate the spread of climate misinformation – but there’s still work to be done.

• YouTube, Meta, and TikTok have made commitments to address climate misinformation on their platforms, but policy enforcement is lacking.

• Twitter/X received only one point—lacking clear policies that address climate misinformation, having no substantive public transparency mechanisms, and offering no evidence of effective policy enforcement.
• There’s a lack of algorithmic reporting from all platforms, and 4 out of 5 platforms lack reporting on misinformation trends.
• There is no available data that suggests platforms are effectively enforcing existing climate misinformation policies.
• Most platforms lack policies that address greenwashing.

“The litany of climate disasters unfolding in the US and around the world underscores the urgency of taking action to phase out fossil fuels like oil and gas,” said Charlie Cray, Senior Strategist at Greenpeace, “Social media platforms have fostered a poisonous spread of disinformation and misinformation that has stalled the necessary action to prevent the climate crisis from becoming an irreversible catastrophe. As we approach COP28, a climate conference being led by the CEO of a major oil company, platforms need to step up and tackle climate misinformation head on before it’s too late.”

CONTACTS: Erika Seiber, eseiber@foe.org; Kathy Grenville, katherine.grenville@gsccnetwork.org

The post Climate of Misinformation: Social Media Companies Lag on Policies to Address Climate Denial and Greenwashing appeared first on Friends of the Earth.

Generally, we think nothing of filling a prescription, test-driving a new car, or taking a flight — because we know the companies that made those products had to prove they were safe.

Yet, new technology like artificial intelligence (AI) — so advanced it can literally improve itself — is entering increasingly widespread use with essentially no safety checks at all. This is alarming.

There are obvious dangers in allowing artificial intelligence to spread and multiply in an unregulated and profit-driven free-for-all. You might think ofthe kind of self-aware, self-evolving science-fiction technology in the “Terminator”film. AI using AI to improve itself is, however, a faraway threat. The more immediate danger is humans weaponizing AI to make it easier for disinformation to spread.

Lina M. Khan, chair of the Federal Trade Commission, has urged that regulators not repeat the mistakes made with social media: Allowing new technology out of the box with no rules. We know that privacy breaches and real social harms have resulted from the developed social media without strong regulatory guardrails. And she says that unless we learn from our mistakes, artificial intelligence also risks “turbocharging fraud.”

We’re not talking about fake videos of the Pope dressed up like Elton John, either. AI imaging has already reportedly been used on the campaign trail, and algorithms can vastly expand the capacity to run micro-targeted — down to even an individual level — persuasion campaigns. These abilities mean AI risks amplifying existing disinformation, including about climate change.

Misleading information about climate change and extreme weather is already a serious problem — without the help of AI. We recently saw conspiracy theories circulating on social media about the recent Canadian wildfires spread quickly — which included falsities that the fires were caused by environmentalists or LGBTQ activists or intended to clear space for renewable energy projects.

Imagine if something that could create more believable lies and spread them further was producing the disinformation. AI very well could, unless we demand the protections that we take for granted in pharmaceuticals and transportation. As we saw with social media, once new technologies leave the lab, it’s too late.

In the wrong hands, AI could forever undermine factual climate discourse with its ability to tailor-make stories, arguments, even realistic images. By scraping social media posts and other digital activity, AI has the potential to create billions of pieces of disinformation and then personalize them and disseminate them — which could make it extremely difficult to tell fact from fiction. This could not only hinder fact-based climate action, but it could also pose serious danger around extreme weather events — when clear and accurate information is critical.

Fortunately, we can still prevent the AI genie from leaving the bottle by applying the same principles regulators have used on pharmaceuticals and automobile safety to artificial intelligence.

We should start with transparency. Before AI enters use, companies must be compelled to show regulators how algorithms work — and prove that they are safe. Even China is proposing this commonsense step in its AI regulations. American rules to ensure AI accountability currently being developed by the Commerce Department should, too.

This should include rigorous safeguards against AI algorithms explicitly using disinformation, hate speech and fraud to manipulate human emotions. Strict regulations surround pharmaceutical advertising. There’s every reason to similarly constrain AI, for as the United Nations has noted, “the propagation of scientifically misleading information” has severe “negative implications for climate policy.”

It should also have to adhere to community standards. We already require television to do so. Even TikTok has adopted standards specifically to counter climate disinformation. That same logic should be applied to AI, especially given its potential power to permeate what we read, see and think.

Lawmakers and regulators were slow to acknowledge the potential harms of social media. Facing the next great technological revolution — this one with the ability to change and adapt without human oversight — we can’t make the same mistake as with social media. AI industry leaders have even asked lawmakers to prioritize AI regulation.

The sad trajectory we’ve seen social media take wasn’t inevitable. It was the direct consequence of policy decisions taken — or, more accurately, not taken — when it was in its infancy. That’s where we are with artificial intelligence today.

And that’s why, to prevent its sweeping ability to spread disinformation about the most existential crisis facing humanity, the federal government must do what it’s done for decades. Require companies to prove products are safe before Americans use them.

The post Artificial Intelligence: The Next Climate Wildfire? appeared first on Friends of the Earth.