Facebook is expanding their Climate Science Information Center and altering their policies regarding climate change disinformation, according to a statement released Thursday.
The statement reveals that the company has created a climate change “mythbusting section” and will be adding “informational labels” to some climate change-related posts made by users in the U.K., with plans to expand this policy to additional countries.
“We’re also starting to add informational labels to some posts on climate in the UK that direct people to the center, and we plan to expand to more countries soon,” the press release claims.
The Climate Science Information Center was already accessible in Germany, France, the U.K. and U.S. and has been expanded to 12 more countries. (RELATED: ‘Keeping All Our Legal Options Open’: Parler Interim CEO Says Facebook’s Sandberg Has A Problem)
Connecting People With Credible Climate Change Information https://t.co/lMXQsDXk8I
— Facebook Newsroom (@fbnewsroom) February 18, 2021
“Misinformation about climate change long predates the internet, but has been greatly amplified in our new digital world. This new mythbusting section of the Facebook Climate Science Information Center can help raise public climate change awareness and understanding worldwide,” Dr. Anthony Leiserowitz, one of several climate communication experts recently hired by Facebook, said in the statement.
Users of the enormous social media platform living in various countries are already directed to the Climate Science Information Center whenever they search for climate-related terms, and Facebook plans to direct even more users to the UN Environment Programme, according to plans expressed in the statement.
Facebook is publicly criticizing Twitter for fact-checking Trump calling it an ‘arbiter of truth’ on the day the US President will sign an order punishing social networks. Cue new battle b/w Conservatives & Silicon Valley pic.twitter.com/J6WZK4aaDd
— Larry Madowo (@LarryMadowo) May 28, 2020
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said last year that “Facebook shouldn’t be the arbiter of truth of everything that people say online,” but Facebook has continued to use a variety of third-party fact-checking organizations on their platform.