Posted on 27 June 2020 by John Hartz

Editor's Choice

Facebook creates fact-checking exemption for climate deniers

Facebook is "aiding and abetting the spread of climate misinformation,” said Robert Brulle, an environmental sociologist at Drexel University. “They have become the vehicle for climate misinformation, and thus should be held partially responsible for a lack of action on climate change.”

Brulle was reacting to Facebook's recent decision, made at the request of climate science deniers, to create a giant loophole in its fact-checking program. Last year, Facebook partnered with an organization, Science Feedback, that would bring in teams of Ph.D. climate scientists to evaluate the accuracy of viral content. It was an important expansion of the company's third-party fact-checking program. 

But now Facebook has reportedly decided to allow its staffers to overrule the climate scientists and make any climate disinformation ineligible for fact-checking by deeming it "opinion." 

The organization that requested the change, the CO2 Coalition, is celebrating, E&E news reported on Monday. The group, which has close ties to the fossil fuel industry, says its views on climate change are increasingly ignored by the mainstream media. Now it plans to use Facebook to aggressively push climate misinformation on the public—without having to worry about fact checks from climate scientists.

Click here to access the entire article as originally posted on the Heated website. 

Facebook creates fact-checking exemption for climate deniers by Emily Atkin, Heated, June 24, 2020

Articles Linked to on Facebook

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• Torrential rains in China cause $2.9 billion in damage, leave 63 dead or missing by Jeff Masters, Eye on the Storm, Yale Climate Connections, June 19, 2020
• Arctic records its hottest temperature ever by Jeff Berardelli, CBS News, June 20, 2020
• We've been talking climate change action for 30 years. Will COVID-19 finally jolt us into gear? by Michael Slezak, ABC News (AU), June 21, 2020

Mon, June 22, 2020

• Greta Thunberg: Climate change 'as urgent' as coronavirus by Justin Rowlatt, Science & Environment, BBC News, June 20, 2020
• Bangladesh Coal Plants Threaten World’s Largest Mangrove Forest by Meenakshi Ganguly, Human Rights Watch, June 18, 2020
• A national US power grid would make electricity cheaper and cleaner by David Roberts, Energy & Environment, Vox, June 20, 2020
• Environmental shareholder activism comes to Japan as Mizuho faces climate resolution by Aaron Sheldrick, Reuters, June 22, 2020

Tue, June 23, 2020

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Wed, June 24, 2020

• Climate Change Tied to Pregnancy Risks, Affecting Black Mothers Most by Christopher Flavelle, Climate, New York Times, June 18, 2020
• What a 100-degree day in Siberia really means by Alejandra Borunda, Science, National Geographic, June 18, 2020
• The links between racism and climate change by SueEllen Campbell, Article, Yale Climate Connections, June 24, 2020
• Declining Antarctic Sea Ice Could Disrupt a Major Carbon Sink by Chelsea Harvey, E&E News/Scientific American, June 24, 2020

Thu, June 25, 2020

• What 'Planet of the Humans' gets wrong about renewable energy by Dana Nuccitelli, Yale Climate Connections, June 24, 2020
• The Ugly History of Climate Determinism Is Still Evident Today, Opinion by Simon Donner, Policy & Ethics, Scientific American, June 24, 2020
• US public opinion supports action on climate change — and has for years by David Roberts, Energy & Environment, Vox, June 23, 2020
• From the Lab to the Field, Agriculture Seeks to Adapt to a Warming World by Jim Robbins, Yale Environment 360, June 25, 2020

Fri, June 26, 2020

• Forests are a solution to global warming. They’re also vulnerable to it by Liz Kimbrough, Global Forests, Mongabay, June 25, 2020
• Act fast to stop UK carbon emission rebound, climate advisers urge by Fiona Harvey, Environment, Guardian, Jan 24, 2020
• Clouds May Be the Key to a Climate Modeling Mystery by Chelsea Harvey, E&E News/Scientific American, June 15, 2020
• What Stands in the Way of Making the Climate a Priority by Bill Mckibben, Annals of a Warming Planet, The New Yorker Magazine, June 24, 2020

Sat, June 27, 2020

• A fertility coach on having kids in a time of climate change by Sara Peach, Article, Yale Climate Connections, June 26, 2020 Facebook creates fact-checking exemption for climate deniers by Emily Atkin, Heated, June 24, 2020
• How climate change misinformation spreads online, Guest Post by Kathie Treen, Hywel Williams & Saffron O’Neill, Carbon Brief, June 26, 2020
• Facebook creates fact-checking exemption for climate deniers by Emily Atkin, Heated, June 24, 2020
• Fading Winters, Hotter Summers Make the Northeast America’s Fastest Warming Region by Abbey Weiss, InsideClimate News, June 27, 2020