A study by the “Center for Countering Digital Hate” has determined that just ten publications are behind a large percentage of interactions (comments and likes) on posts denying climate change on Facebook.
The top three publishers on the list were right-wing online media platform Breitbart, The Western Journal, and Newsmax – which accounted for nearly 42% of all climate-related misinformation. The study’s analysis is based on a sample of 6,983 climate denial articles published within the 365-day period from 12 October 2020 to 11 October 2021. The posts reviewed received a total of 709,057 Facebook interactions – an average of 100 per article.
Almost all of the articles (92%) did not carry fact-checking labels, which Facebook has begun to further implement amidst a rise in fake news and misinformation – especially during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The social media giant announced in February that it would begin attaching “informational labels” to posts about climate change, directing users to the platform’s new “Climate Science Information Center” meant to monitor climate-based posts.
The study further showed additional troubling figures about these publications: the ten publications have generated a combined $5.3 million in Google Ads revenue and have had a staggering 1.1 billion unique visitors.
The most popular of the publications, which were dubbed the “Toxic Ten” by the study’s publishers, is Breitbart News, which received nearly 300 million visits during the six months of the study. Breitbart News was once described as a “platform for the alt-right” by its former chairman, ex-Trump adviser Steve Bannon.