Washington–Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) joined Senator Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.) and a group of their colleagues to urge Facebook to stop the spread of climate change disinformation on its platform. In their letter to Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, the senators detail how Facebook’s decision to label climate change content as “opinion content” has prevented fact checks on misleading or false information on climate change, which emboldens climate deniers and promotes the spread of disinformation. The letter follows reporting from the New York Times detailing the harmful effects of Facebook’s policy.
“Leaving aside concerns with Facebook’s fact-check policies more generally, categorizing climate change science as “opinion” is wrong, and does great harm,” the senators wrote. “Denial or misrepresentation of scientific facts regarding climate change puts millions of individuals’ lives at risk. The scientific consensus is clear: global warming and climate change are real, and they are caused by humans. Especially given Facebook’s massive reach, we urge you to review your current fact-checking procedures and reassess how climate change posts are reviewed.”
The senators continued, “One particularly egregious example of this issue on your platform regards an August 2019 column in the Washington Examiner written by Pat Michaels, a well-known climate denier, in which he falsely claimed that climate models were dramatically wrong. The column was shared more than 2,000 times on Facebook, and was rated ‘false’ by Science Feedback, a content-checker for Facebook. The CO2 Coalition, a group affiliated with Michaels, said they were then helped by a ‘conservative contact’ at Facebook who was able to get the ‘false’ rating reversed.”
In addition to Feinstein and Hassan, the letter was also signed by Senators Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Kamala Harris (D-Calif.), Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii), Tina Smith (D-Minn.), Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) and Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.).
The letter is available here and below:
Dear Mr. Zuckerberg,
We write to express concern about Facebook’s failure to address climate change disinformation and request information about your company’s policies and actions in this important area.
Statements made by Facebook’s leadership in a July 14, 2020 New York Times article have caused us great concern. The article highlights how Facebook has labeled climate change content as “opinion content,” thereby disavowing any responsibility of fact-checking these posts. Andy Stone, Facebook’s policy communication director told the New York Times that, “All opinion content on the platform — including op-ed articles or posts that express the views or agendas of politicians, businesses, and nongovernmental organizations — is exempt from fact-checking.”
Leaving aside concerns with Facebook’s fact-check policies more generally, categorizing climate change science as “opinion” is wrong, and does great harm. Denial or misrepresentation of scientific facts regarding climate change puts millions of individuals’ lives at risk. The scientific consensus is clear: global warming and climate change are real, and they are caused by humans.2 Especially given Facebook’s massive reach, we urge you to review your current fact-checking procedures and reassess how climate change posts are reviewed.
On Facebook’s Sustainability page it states, “We're committed to reducing our greenhouse gas footprint by 75% and reaching 100% renewable energy in 2020. We recognize the urgency of climate change and Facebook is committed to help tackle this global challenge.” If Facebook is genuinely committed to these important goals, we urge you to back up these statements with real action, including to prevent climate change disinformation on your platform.
One particularly egregious example of this issue on your platform regards an August 2019 column in the Washington Examiner written by Pat Michaels, a well-known climate denier, in which he falsely claimed that climate models were dramatically wrong. The column was shared more than 2,000 times on Facebook, and was rated “false” by Science Feedback, a content- checker for Facebook.The CO2 Coalition, a group affiliated with Michaels, said they were then helped by a “conservative contact” at Facebook who was able to get the “false” rating reversed.
There have also been reports that The Heartland Institute, a think tank that has received funding from fossil fuels companies to oppose regulations, has spent $20,000 alone promoting questionable claims on Facebook over the past few years. Meanwhile, Facebook flagged the posts of Dr. Katharine Hayhoe, of Texas Tech University, a leading climate scientist, as “political.” Because Dr. Hayhoe’s posts were labeled as political, Facebook now requires her to provide personal information which she believes could expose her to personal attacks by climate deniers. All of these decisions and actions are inconsistent with Facebook’s posted goals on climate change and fact-checking.
We ask that you respond to the following requests as soon as possible, and no later than August 7th, 2020:
We look forward to learning more about what actions Facebook is taking to combat these dangerous climate change denial posts. Thank you for your attention to this important matter.
###