Abusive, often violent tweets denying the climate emergency have become a barrage since Elon Musk acquired the platform, say UK experts
Photograph: Mark Maslin
But not all scientists have found standing up to regular hostility an easy feat. Doug McNeall, a statistician working on climate change at the Met Office Hadley Centre at Exeter University, said he had blocked or muted many accounts on Twitter even before Musk’s arrival. “I got to the point where it was definitely affecting my mental health,” he said.
McNeall said it was hard for scientists to work out how to cut through the false information on Twitter. “I just can’t tell if people are seeing disinformation or getting good scientific information about what is happening,” he said. “That’s really worrying.” Hawkins has noticed that many denier accounts have paid subscriptions to Twitter and therefore appear higher up in the replies. “It appears to be a coordinated effort [by climate change deniers] to make it appear as though climate denial is more prevalent than it really is,” he said.
United Kingdom Latest News, United Kingdom Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Who is going to be Twitter's new CEO?NBCUniversal's head of advertising Linda Yaccarino is set to become the new CEO of Twitter, Elon Musk confirms.
Read more »
Elon Musk announces new Twitter CEOElon Musk has announced Linda Yaccarino as the new CEO of Twitter as he steps down, wanting to concentrate on product design and new technology. Ms Yaccarino was the former Head of Advertising at NBC Universal, and according to Mr Musk, will focus mainly on business operations. Elon Musk tweeted in December he would resign as CEO as soon as he found someone to take over.
Read more »
Twitter’s new CEO is an NBCUniversal executive with deep ad industry tiesElon Musk confirmed that the new CEO for Twitter will be NBCUniversal’s Linda Yaccarino, an executive with deep ties to the advertising industry.
Read more »
Elon Musk announces Linda Yaccarino as Twitter's new CEOElon Musk has announced a new Twitter boss, just over six months after the billionaire tech entrepreneur controversially took the reins of the social media platform.
Read more »
‘Dumb idea': Energy minister fires at Dutton’s nuclear power planThe Climate Change and Energy Minister took aim at the Liberal leader’s “dumb” nuclear power plan, telling him to “come clean” about the facts of the alternate energy source.
Read more »
Chemtrails, doctored temperatures and exaggerated global warming: Meteorology is new misinformation targetOnce trusted faces on the news, meteorologists now brave threats, insults and slander online from conspiracy theorists and climate change deniers who accuse them of faking or even fixing the weather.
Read more »