Jennifer Scherer - SBS News
The spread of false information is one the biggest global risks, according to the World Economic Forum, and experts warn the proliferation of climate denialism could stall urgent action.
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| The spread of mis and disinformation online is putting the planet at risk. |
The spread of false information is one the biggest global risks, according to the World Economic Forum, and experts warn the proliferation of climate denialism could stall urgent action.
The flood that swept through western Germany and eastern Belgium in 2021 claimed the lives of more than 200 people.
Gerd
Schiffer is leading the reconstruction of the German town of Erftstadt,
which was badly damaged by the flooding, and feels the spread of
climate denial delays disaster preparedness.
"There
are still many climate change deniers but if they themselves would be
affected, they would certainly have a different perspective," Schiffer
told SBS News.
"It
is a real risk that the population is not taking it seriously, with the
attitude that 'it won't happen here or it won't happen to me'."
The sinkhole in the Blessem district of Erftstadt, Western Germany in July 2021. Source: AFP
Unchecked
information can be disseminated through social media platforms,
algorithmic recommendations and the growing influence of generative
artificial intelligence, which can be used to create fake content.
Alexander
Sängerlaub is the founder of Futur Eins, a think-and-do tank which
looks at the future and resilience of digital spheres.
"We live in the age of information floods," he told SBS News.
"Imagine
you are on Instagram or Twitter, there's a lot of information,
information snippets … opinion-based things, fact-check based.
"We are basically overwhelmed to sort things in the right direction, to understand 'is this good information, is this a lie?'"
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| Alexander Sängerlaub is the founder of Futur Eins. Credit: SBS News, Jennifer Scherer. |
What’s being done to curb the problem?
Controlling
the spread of misinformation and disinformation has been labelled by
the United Nations as one of the most urgent tasks of our time.
Last
year, UN Secretary-General António Guterres put forward a framework to
promote a coordinated global response to safeguarding information
spaces.
It encouraged the implementation
of state-led regulatory frameworks to promote transparency while
cautioning against infringing on rights including freedom of opinion and
expression. It promoted the protection of free and independent media,
urging stakeholders such as government, tech companies, advertisers and
media to stop using or amplifying disinformation and hate speech.
Countries
such as Germany have adopted legal frameworks to make big tech
responsible for the spread of disinformation. The European Union's
Digital Services Act (2022) aims to address illegal and harmful content
and the spread of disinformation by enforcing rules on online
intermediaries such as search engines, social media platforms or online
marketplaces.
In Australia, a bill to
further crack down on misinformation and disinformation was quashed in
November 2024, due to concerns around safeguarding freedom of expression.
Sängerlaub
says there's too much responsibility on consumers and too little on
platforms to educate the public on what disinformation is.
"Social
media should do the work for us [and be] much more responsible in
working together with fact-checking organisations or with systems that
are helping people to understand how these platforms are working."
On
a global scale, Henning Wuester, the director of the Initiative for
Climate Action Transparency, suggests data could be a useful antidote to
misinformation, especially when driving collective action through
mechanisms such as the Paris Agreement.
"Transparency
is really the glue that holds everything together, it ensures that the
decentralised action in countries comes together," Wuester told SBS
News.
"The biggest challenge is that many
countries do not have data and do not have a framework to collect
regularly the data that is required in order to plan their climate
action in a meaningful way.
"As soon as
you have the necessary and good quality data, that provides a basis for
planning, you can deal with the misinformation."
Spotting fake or false information
According
to the Climate Social Science Network, there are extensive networks
across Europe trying to obstruct climate action. In Germany, an increase
in climate denial has been linked to the rise of far-right ideology.
Ahead
of Germany’s federal election, far-right party Alternative für
Deutschland (AfD) appears to be gaining traction, some opinion polls
placing it in second place behind the Christian Democratic Union (CDU)
and its Bavarian CSU sister party coalition.
The AfD is the only large party to reject climate action.
A YouGov Deutschland poll placed the AfD in second place ahead of the German election.
"The physics are clear and also the impacts are clear.
"It is of course the Pacific, and other people and countries most vulnerable who are then feeling the impact of that."
Debunking
misinformation and disinformation online often relies on digital
consumers to check the source and publisher of information.
According
to Katharina Wecker from the Climate Journalism Network Germany, subtle
disinformation which is aimed at delaying climate action is a "massive
threat".
"I think it's part of media
literacy that people need to learn, or even students and people at
school should learn to fact check sources, to learn which sources to
trust," Wecker said.
When it comes to
verifying images, footage or deep fakes, tips can include searching for
media reports to support claims, paying attention to inconsistencies in
the appearance of images or footage as well as conducting a
reverse-image search to try to find the original source.
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| Laura Schäfer from Germanwatch, an independent development, environmental, and human rights organisation. Credit: SBS News, Jennifer Scherer. |
Urgent action needed
The
spread of climate denial content has also concerned experts who warn a
weakening in public support for green initiatives could escalate the
impacts of a changing climate.
"It is
very unjust that those who have emitted greenhouse gas emissions like
Germany and other industrialised countries, they are not the ones at the
front[line] of consequences," Mechthild Becker from the German Council
on Foreign Relations told SBS News.
"Those
in the Pacific, especially on small island and development states …
some already have had to leave their homes, already planned relocations
have taken place."
Germany has committed
to climate-related assistance abroad, including pledging aid to the
Pacific. Both Germany and Australia have committed through the Pacific
Islands Forum to support regional priorities, including pooling
resources and helping with disaster preparedness and response.
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| Mechthild Becker is a climate and foreign policy research fellow at the German Council on Foreign Relations. Credit: SBS News, Jennifer Scherer |
.
"The
current situation on the ground is quite desperate. We are witnessing
day in, day out, the impact of sea level rise," he told SBS News.
"The
current predictions by scientists … are quite daunting and frightening.
They are predicting that in 25 years, in 2050, more than 50 per cent of
the land territory of Tuvalu will be regularly flooded by regular tidal
surges.
"In another 50 years … more than 90 per cent of the land territory of Tuvalu will be suffering the same fate."
In
2023, Tuvalu and Australia signed a treaty providing a migration
pathway due to the impacts of climate change on the island nation.
Despite witnessing the impacts of climate change first hand, Teo says the Pacific is not immune to mis and disinformation.
"I
think it's incumbent on those developed countries, especially those
that are responsible for this phenomenon, to ensure that misinformation
and disinformation are addressed quickly," he said.
"It's a constant challenge for countries like Tuvalu where we don't have robust cybersecurity infrastructure."
In
countries such as Tuvalu, Fiji and Samoa, 80 per cent of the population
is online, with many turning to social media for news consumption.
"With
the rise of access to things like social media, a lot of the narratives
that rise within the diasporic communities, whether it's in Australia
or Aotearoa or the US, they also seem to find their way to filter into
our islands," Joseph Sikulu the pacific director for 350.org, an
organisation promoting renewable energy, told SBS News.
"You hear some really conservative narratives now flourishing up within our island communities.
"Whether
it's social media, whether it's within this coconut wireless of people
talking to each other or whether it's within our church, there is a lot
of disinformation, misinformation that spreads amongst our people."
Links
- What are climate misinformation and disinformation and what is their impact?
- Climate Misinformation on Social Media Is Undermining Climate Action
- Here are 10 myths about climate change - WWF
- Activists or extremists? The protesters willing to go to jail to defend their cause
- Australia to offer residency to hundreds from Tuvalu, nation at high risk from climate change
- 'No pathway': Government drops controversial misinformation bill amid Senate opposition
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