Twitter/X Climate Misinformation Policies Ranked Worst in Survey of Big Tech Platforms

The Climate of Misinformation report by Climate Action Against Disinformation, an international partnership of more than 50 organizations dedicated to climate and anti-disinformation, has given Twitter — rebranded as X — one point out of 21 for “lacking clear policies” to address misinformation related to climate, presenting no evidence of effectively enforcing policies and being entirely without substantive mechanisms regarding public transparency. The rating was the worst of the major technology platforms ranked by the organization.

The report looked at the content moderation policies of YouTube, TikTok, Meta, Pinterest and Twitter, as well as the platforms’ efforts to reduce misinformation related to climate change.

The Climate Action Against Disinformation coalition includes environmental advocacy nonprofits Friends of the Earth and Greenpeace.

“Misinformation around climate change and disinformation fueled by the fossil fuel industry have stalled climate action for decades. Big Tech has become a complicit actor in climate denial’s resurgence,” the report stated.

Pinterest received 12 points, the most of the five major platforms. Meta, YouTube and TikTok have committed to addressing climate misinformation, the report said, but their policy enforcement has been found to be lacking by independent researchers. Most platforms, it added, do not have policies to address greenwashing.

“A toxic and fossil-fueled minority is drowning out the voices of science and reason and social media platforms are complicit,” said Erika Seiber, climate disinformation spokesperson for Friends of the Earth, in a press release from Friends of the Earth.

Four out of five of the major tech platforms were without a comprehensive, universal definition for “climate misinformation” in their content moderation policy, the report found.

“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,” Seiber said in the press release.

The report noted that the takeover of Twitter/X by Elon Musk had caused confusion regarding current policies.

“In the case of X/Twitter, Elon Musk’s acquisition of the company has created uncertainty about which policies are still standing and which are not. While some policy content on Twitter/X’s website dated before the acquisition could potentially benefit the fight against climate disinformation, such as its announcement to ban ‘misleading advertisements on Twitter/X that contradict the scientific consensus on climate change,’ many policies are no longer being enforced, according to outside sources,” the report said.

The single point Twitter/X did receive in the report was for having a privacy policy that was easily accessible and readable.

“The litany of climate disasters unfolding in the U.S. and around the world underscores the urgency of taking action to phase out fossil fuels like oil and gas,” said Greenpeace senior strategist Charlie Cray in the press release. “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.”

Twitter/X was the only platform evaluated in the report that did not provide a clear process for reporting misleading or harmful content.

“We call on platforms to review our rankings and use them to guide future policymaking around stopping the spread of climate denial, greenwashing, hate speech, and public health misinformation,” the report said.