Pinterest Decides to Ban Climate Change Misinformation
Pinterest has expanded their community guidelines in light of the climate crisis and is instating a policy of removing climate change misinformation from the platform, a win for the environmental community. The social media company looks to remove any content which may harm the public’s well-being, safety, or trust, and has partnered with various organizations to address climate change and misinformation.
The negative effects of climate change misinformation have received increased attention in the last year, with the Conscious Advertising Network leading an open letter to the CEOs of Facebook, Instagram, Google, Twitter, TikTok, Pinterest and Reddit, asking for action on the issue. While Google has already taken steps to ban advertisements and monetization of content containing climate change misinformation, Pinterest’s policy is the first to outright ban this content across the entire platform.
What Qualifies as Climate Misinformation?
Defining what qualifies as climate change misinformation has been contentious, with many calling for a universal definition to be established at the most recent United Nations Climate Change Conference. Even without this definition being established, Pinterest has taken the initiative to establish a comprehensive list of what will be considered climate misinformation on the platform. This includes:
Content that denies the existence or impacts of climate change, the human influence on climate change, or that climate change is backed by scientific consensus.
False or misleading content about climate change solutions that contradict well-established scientific consensus.
Content that misrepresents scientific data, including by omission or cherry-picking, in order to erode trust in climate science and experts.
Harmful false or misleading content about public safety emergencies including natural disasters and extreme weather events.
What Makes Climate Misinformation So Damaging?
Climate change is a complex issue, making it difficult to definitively dictate what misinformation looks like. However, combating climate change misinformation is an important part of combating climate change as a whole. Content that contradicts or casts doubt on the reality or urgency of the climate crisis can have a wide effect on general opinion when it is widely disseminated. Creating mistrust in reliable sources can encourage inaction, resulting in what some call a “paralyzing fog of doubt around climate change”. To prevent this, social media platforms are being called on to follow Pinterest in limiting climate change content to what is accurate and reliable.
Pinterest has taken the initiative to combat misinformation on its platform since 2017, adding health misinformation to its list of prohibited content, then quickly expanded this policy to encompass other forms of misinformation such as conspiracy theories and election misinformation. The addition of climate change misinformation to this list has been welcomed by environmental organizations and scientists, who regard this as a serious threat to meaningful and concerted action that could solve the climate crisis.
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