Climate Disinformation
Friends of the Earth works to reduce the spread of disinformation that potentially affects all of our campaigns. As technology and media companies consolidate their power, our fundamental ability to campaign on any issue is threatened, as corporate polluters gain more control over the basic communications systems that are needed for social change and democracy itself.
Our program has been in development since 2018, when we brought together the U.S. environmental community to look at the broad threats of new communications technologies–from disinformation to surveillance, from deep-fakes to algorithmic discrimination. We pressure companies and Congress to reduce disinformation and ensure that the free speech of individuals is not limited by corporate actors, foreign influence, or coordinated radical networks like QAnon. While we are focused currently on climate change disinformation perpetuated by fossil fuel companies and their inauthentic networks, our work will continue to center the voices and experiences of people who are affected by multiple types of corporate and technological control.
Our program has been deliberately intersectional from the outset, realizing that many of the same organizations and people online that deny climate change, also deny rights for women, discriminate against people of color, limit voter access, and question public health science. Our coalition has co-developed cross-issue networks with Change The Terms, a coalition that has pressured Facebook to remove hate speech online.
The corporatization and centralization of our communications channels is a threat to American and progressive values, and can only be effectively fought if we stand in unity with other movements.
Disinformation is a threat to the stability of democracy and undermines our ability to tackle nearly every problem we face — from addressing climate change to securing LGBTQ+ rights to ensuring public health.
The only path to progress is to do the reverse: unite and demand social media companies disclose their data and be held accountable for their role in perpetuating this existential threat.
Americans should demand that Facebook take a few simple steps to show they are serious about combatting disinformation.
It’s hard enough to make strides when it comes to climate action. Green-lighting blatant lies about the scale of the climate crisis cannot continue
WASHINGTON, LONDON - A report released today from the Climate Action Against Disinformation coalition found that Google has failed to systematically enforce its policy to demonetize YouTube videos that contain climate disinformation. In…
We applaud policies that address climate disinformation and encourage all social media platforms to adopt policies that protect their users.
LONDON - Today, the Climate Action Against Disinformation (CAAD) coalition released its roundup report on climate disinformation detected around the United Nations’ climate conference (COP27) in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt. The report reflects the efforts of the coalition’s COP27…