Twitter has announced that it will no longer allow advertisers that deny the scientific consensus on climate change to advertise on its platform, mirroring a policy already in place at Google.
“Ads shouldn’t detract from important conversations about the climate crisis,” the company said in a statement outlining its new policy Friday.
There was no evidence that the move would have an impact on what users write on the social networking site, which, like Facebook, has been targeted by groups aiming to spread false climate change claims.
The announcement, which coincided with Earth Day, came just hours before the European Union agreed to a pact that required big digital companies to cooperate.
The announcement, which coincided with Earth Day, came only hours before the European Union agreed to a pact forcing big tech companies to do more thorough reviews of their sites for hate speech, disinformation, and other harmful content.
In the coming months, Twitter said it would share more details on how it plans to provide credible, authoritative context to the climate dialogues its users are having, including from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.
The studies of an UN-backed science group on the causes and impacts of climate change serve as the foundation for international climate change negotiations.
The corporation already has a climate-related topic on its website and provided “pre-bunks” during last year’s UN climate conference to combat misconceptions about the issue.
There was no evidence that the move would have an impact on what users write on the social networking site, which, like Facebook, has been targeted by groups aiming to spread false climate change claims.
The announcement, which coincided with Earth Day, came only hours before the European Union agreed to a pact forcing big tech companies to do more thorough reviews of their sites for hate speech, disinformation, and other harmful content.
Long-term changes in temperature and weather patterns are referred to as climate change. Although these changes are natural, human activities have been the primary driver of climate change since the 1800s, owing to the burning of fossil fuels (such as coal, oil, and gas), which produces heat-trapping gases.