Facebook Says It Will Fact Check Global Warming ‘Misinformation’

Facebook co-founder, Chairman and CEO Mark Zuckerberg arrives to testify before the House
Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

Tech giant Facebook recently stated it plans to start adding information labels to posts about global warming that direct people to a “climate change information hub.”  George Mason University, the Yale Program on Climate Change Communication, and the University of Cambridge will all contribute to Facebook’s program of fact checking.

NBC News reports that Facebook announced this week that it will begin debunking commonly mths about climate change, continuing to define what is and isn’t “misinformation,” something which the company previously claimed it would not do.

Facebook said that it is adding a section to its climate change information hub that will feature facts with information about misinformation and falsehoods relating to climate change. Some of these facts will include data about the decline of polar bear populations due to global warming as well as information about the effects of carbon dioxide on plant life.

Facebook stated that it plans to rely on professionals from George Mason University, the Yale Program on Climate Change Communication, and the University of Cambridge to fact-check climate change posts.

Facebook recently introduced information hubs and has relied on them as part of its tactic to combat what it considers misinformation across its services. This is a quick change of pace considering CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s comments in May when he defended unrestricted speech on the platform and said he did not think that “Facebook or internet platforms in general should be arbiters of truth.”

Facebook introduced its climate change information hub in September, shortly after the firm removed a report with false claims that Oregon wildfires were started by Antifa members.

Facebook now plans to start adding information labels to posts about climate change that direct people to its climate change information hub

This hub will also be expanded to users in Belgium, Brazil, Canada, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Mexico, the Netherlands, Nigeria, Spain, South Africa, and Taiwan. The feature is already available in the U.S., UK, France, and Germany.

Lucas Nolan is a reporter for Breitbart News covering issues of free speech and online censorship. Follow him on Twitter @LucasNolan or contact via secure email at the address lucasnolan@protonmail.com

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