Facebook to provide 'Science-based news' to tackle myths, misinformation on climate change

Facebook on Thursday announced that it will combat the myths related to climate change on its platform under its ‘disinformation’ program. The social media giant launched labels in consultation with experts from George Mason University, the Yale Program on Climate Change Communication, and the University of Cambridge as a draft framework to combat widespread misinformation on the platform.

In order to debunk common myths about climate change, as it opts for an ‘arbiter of truth’ role, Facebook launched information labels on posts about climate change in the UK, just like COVID-19, in order to promote more ‘facts’ from the leading environment specialists on the platform. It started to annotate posts, according to several British media reports that cited such posts, to debunk climate-change myths. At this time, the firm is focused on the data related to polar bear populations that have been severely declining due to the impacts of global warming. 

Climate based 'factual' news

In order to connect people with  “science-based news,” the social media platform started suggesting links on the labels that routed the users to the science information hub, related to climate change. The hub, which constitutes scientists from across France, Germany, the UK, and the US, is also expected to expand to Belgium, Brazil, Canada, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Mexico, the Netherlands, Nigeria, Spain, South Africa, and Taiwan, according to reports. UK’s Belfast Telegraph reported, that the Climate Science Information Centre section in the former countries is actually a part of the test before a full-fledged ‘disinformation’ plan rolls out across the social media platform. 

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“The spread of damaging falsehoods endangers the level of international cooperation required to prevent catastrophic global warming,” said Dr. Sander van der Linden, from the University of Cambridge, was quoted as saying by ANI.

Facebook is in a unique position to counter the circulation of online misinformation, and the new climate ‘myth busting’ section is an important step toward debunking dangerous falsehoods,” he added.  According to Facebook, the Climate Science Information Center will connect users "with science-based news, approachable information and actionable resources from the world's leading climate change organizations.” Those countries that do not have the access to the information centre will be directed to the United Nations Environment Programme’s website. 

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'Arbiter of truth': Facebook to fight climate change 'myths' as it tackles disinformation