Update on Facebook's climate change denial loophole shenanigans
Remember last week’s post (via HEATED) about squirrelly Facebook’s decision to let climate change deniers spread lies if they’re in the mood?
Some shit has been hitting some fans.
Lots of powerful peeps signed this letter. One of its paragraphs:
“Facebook knows how to take action against misinformation. When COVID-19 denial took hold on the platform, it was forcibly shut down because Facebook understood that the spread of COVID-19 misinformation could cause imminent physical harm to the health and well-being of Facebook users. Climate denial and misinformation are also deadly. By allowing climate misinformation to go unchecked, Facebook is actively putting the health and well-being of our nation’s most vulnerable low-income communities and communities of color at risk.”
Media Matters for America also went for the flame-throwing approach:
“It should give Facebook huge pause that fringe arguments and career climate deniers embraced only by right-wing media see the social media platform as the clear vector for their content.
“The realities of extreme weather, coupled with the efforts of climate activists, scientists, and journalists, have helped to raise public awareness of the climate crisis. Facebook’s loophole threatens to undo much of this progress by giving a well-organized and well-funded denial machine free rein to propagandize and misinform about the climate crisis during a time of much-needed action.”
There’s plenty giving BookFace huge pause at the moment.
And a real sniff of “facts winning over bollocks” flooding back into the online world, right here, right now.
This warm fuzzy feeling was brought to you by Fatboy Slim.