Twitter bans advertisements that deny impacts of climate change

American microblogging and social networking service, Twitter has reportedly banned advertisements against the scientific accord on climate change.

In a blog post, Twitter said that climate denialism should not be posted on Twitter and that misinformative ads should not divert people from essential topics about the climate crisis, said Twitter in a blog post.

Those contradicting the impacts of climate change have chosen sites such as Facebook and Twitter that empower them to spread fake claims around hundreds & thousands of users of the platforms.

As per the announced ads, there was no indication of whether Twitter would be deleting or banning the accounts of the users who post things related to climate change misinformation.

Twitter’s blog post highlighted the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change recent report called for immediate and deep emissions reductions to fight the effects of global warming.

The tech giant plans to add a more reliable, authoritative context to the discussions on climate change taking place on its platform.

This move comes amid the action taken by the other tech companies. For instance, this month, Pinterest announced that it would forbid users from posting anything related to climate misinformation on its site, prohibiting the content outright. It will also eliminate posts that contradict climate change.

Similarly, Google last year announced that it was restricting ads on content from climate change deniers on its platform, as well as eliminating advertisements that refute climate change.

Other than that, hours after the update on Twitter’s policy, European policymakers reached an agreement on sweeping tech protocols that included firmer rules on how platforms regulate misrepresentation and illegal content on social media and other platforms.

An open letter inked by more than 200 activists, scientists, and organizations last year called for social media companies, including Facebook, TikTok, Google, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, and Reddit, to launch climate misinformation policies like the once they put in place for Covid-19.

Source Credit - https://edition.cnn.com/2022/04/23/tech/twitter-climate-change-policy/index.html

https://www.engadget.com/twitter-climate-change-denial-ads-earth-day-192450527.html