Twitter has banned’misleading’ climate change advertisements

Today, Twitter imposed a new prohibition on “misleading” adverts that “contradict the scientific consensus on climate change.”

“We believe that climate denialism should not be monetized on Twitter, and that misleading advertisements should not detract from essential dialogues about the climate catastrophe,” the firm wrote in a blog post today.

Its determinations on what is legitimate climate change content would be governed by “authoritative sources,” including the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, it adds (IPCC). Over the last few months, the IPCC has released two landmark reports on the crisis, outlining what needs to be done to adapt to the changes that are already taking place, as well as how to avoid even more severe consequences in the future, such as intensifying weather disasters and ferocious wildfire seasons.

Twitter also stated that it will provide additional information about how it intends to “provide credible, authoritative context” regarding climate change on its platform in the near future. According to the company, these discussions have been significantly louder in the last year. Tweets regarding “sustainable” have increased by more than 150 percent since 2021, according to Twitter. Discussions about “decarbonization,” or reducing greenhouse gas emissions caused by the use of fossil fuels, have also increased by 50%. Other environmental debates are also heating up. Over the same time span, talk on reducing waste increased by more than 100 percent.

Twitter’s recent announcement is also part of a larger social media campaign to put an end to climate change deception. Other companies have made similar promises, with varied degrees of success.