Twitter has announced that it will no longer allow advertisements that contradict the scientific consensus on climate change.
Twitter’s sustainability leaders state in an Earth Day blog post:
“We recognize that misleading information about climate change can undermine efforts to protect the planet. In the coming months, we’ll have more to share on our work to add reliable, authoritative context to the climate conversations happening on Twitter.”
Ads that are misleading will now be subject to the social media platform’s inappropriate content policy. This action follows similar bans on anti-scientific consensus advertising on Google, Facebook, and Instagram parent company, Meta.
Pre-Bunks Offers a Disclaimer For Untrustworthy Claims
Twitter began using pre-bunks, or messages placed at the top of users’ feeds to preemptively debunk false information, just before the 2020 U.S. presidential election. These strategies, along with hubs of credible authoritative information, are now being used to aid in climate change conversations.
Twitter’s approach, according to the blog post, will be informed by authoritative sources such as the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, which released its 2022 report on climate change mitigation earlier this month.
Read Integrating Twitter Into Your Social Media Marketing Plan: Here’s Gawdo.com’s insightful guide.
Climate Change Debate on Social Media Is a Battleground for Free Speech
In the United States, the climate change debate has become increasingly politicized, with political actors frequently taking the place of scientific ones. As a result, polarization has grown, with liberals and conservatives expressing sharp disagreement on the issue.
According to a 2020 Pew Research survey, 85 percent of adult American liberals believe human activity contributes to climate change, compared to 14 percent of conservatives. Twitter is frequently used as an echo chamber for both sides of this debate.
Since former President Donald Trump was barred from using Twitter in January 2021, the social media platform has drawn increasing criticism from the right, with claims that conservative voices are being censored.
Following the January 6 riot at the United States Capitol, Twitter enforcement actions removed 77,000 accounts promoting QAnon conspiracies, many of whom were conservative Trump supporters. However, according to a 2021 study by the Center for Business and Human Rights, claims of conservative censorship are unfounded.
Twitter Is Committed to Long-Term Organizational Sustainability
Combating climate change misinformation is just the latest initiative Twitter has launched to promote sustainability.
In 2019, it announced a plan to make its data centers in the United States and Canada carbon-neutral by the end of 2022. The company sources renewable energy from wind and solar power projects through a partnership with Watershed, a technology firm focused on energy and water conservation.
Twitter joined the EU Climate Pact earlier this year, which includes commitments to fully transition to renewable energy in European Union locations in accordance with the Paris Agreement.
Learn more from Twitter and read Twitter Confirms That It Is Developing An Edit Button.
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