Sign in Subscribe
Climate change

Climate Science Deniers Flood Social Media with False Claims During Extreme Weather Events

Strategic Insights

— 1 min read

Climate science deniers are flooding social media platforms with false claims during extreme weather events, drowning out reliable information and putting lives at risk. A recent report by the Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH) highlights the alarming spread of misinformation about climate change and its role in devastating wildfires and hurricanes. The report analyzed the most popular misleading social media posts spread by influential climate science deniers between April 2023 and April 2025, using DeSmog's climate disinformation database.

Key Takeaways:

  • The report found that three quarters of the most popular misleading posts focused on extreme weather events, with 38% of these posts concerning the wildfires in Los Angeles and 14% concerning Hurricane Helene.
  • Baseless claims made by U.S. conspiracy theorist Alex Jones during the LA wildfires received 408 million views on X, more than the information distributed on the platform by 10 key emergency response accounts and the 10 largest U.S. news outlets.
  • Online platforms often boosted these false claims, and almost all of the posts were allowed to remain on the platforms without being fact-checked.
  • The report notes that accurate information is being buried by false claims in online spaces, with prominent right-wing broadcasters and social media influencers contributing to the spread of misinformation.
  • Superspreader Alex Jones had "drowned out credible information on LA wildfires" with his baseless claims, while YouTube and Facebook have profited from this misinformation by placing adverts next to misleading content.

Statistics:

  • 88% of the posts identified on X were from "verified users", and 73% on YouTube, while 64% on Meta platforms were from verified users.
  • One in three misleading YouTube videos recommended more climate denial content next to them.
  • YouTube placed adverts next to 29% of its misleading extreme weather videos, while 5 of the accounts on X spreading false information about extreme weather were signed up for the site's paid subscription services.

Sources:

  • A new report by the Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH)
  • DeSmog's climate disinformation database
  • Media Matters
  • GB News
  • World Weather Attribution
  • NPR
  • BBC News
  • Desmog
  • The New York Times
  • The Conversation
  • Politico

Read more