The social media conversation about the climate crisis is largely shaped by an army of automated Twitter bots. According to a draft study by the U.S. Brown University, about a quarter of all messages dealing with the climate that are disseminated on Twitter every day come from so-called bots. A bot is a computer program that automatically sends repetitive messages without relying on user interaction.
Brown University researchers analyzed a total of 6.5 million tweets during the period when U.S. President Donald Trump announced he was pulling out of the Paris climate agreement. The tweets were categorized by topic, using the tool "Botometer"was used to determine whether a computer program or a human being was the author of the respective entries. The result of the analysis speaks for itself:
Most of the accounts identified as bots supported the US president's stance that the climate crisis was "bullshit." At the same time, they spread scientific misinformation.
On average, about 25 percent of all tweets about the climate crisis per day came from bots. This proportion was higher for certain topics: Bots were responsible for 38 percent of all tweets with scientific false news. Oil giant Exxon was mentioned in 28 percent of all messages sent by bots. On the other hand, Twitter messages calling for support for action against the climate crisis featured very few bots.
Thomas Marlow, Brown doctoral student and leader of the study, said in the Guardian that the analysis came about because he and his colleagues had always wondered why the prevalence of fake news about the climate crisis was so high - even though the majority of scientists were clear about the causes.
Unknown originators
The Brown University study could not determine who is hiding behind the battalion of Twitter bots. It is unclear whether the programs are used by individuals or interest groups. The extent to which the bot army's messages influence the sometimes heated climate debate also remains unclear.
However, many of the suspect Twitter accounts used to disparage climate science and climate activists have large numbers of followers. For example, the now-blocked account @sh_irredeemablewho in the past repeatedly took aim at climate activist Greta Thunberg and spread the term "climate change madness," for example.
Another example is the now also blocked bot @petefrtwhich was followed by nearly 52,000 people at the time of analysis - and which portrays climate science as unserious. In August 2018, for example, the computer program spread the message, "Get real, CNN: the 'climate change' dogma is religion, not science." In another November tweet, the computer program called for the Paris Agreement to be rescinded, saying a future built by "globalists and European eco-bonzes" should be rejected.
True is what attracts interest
A year ago, research into the behavior of Internet users revealed that in social networks, it is primarily those messages that are often shared and liked that are regarded as true. Stephan Lewandowsky, an academic at the University of Bristol and co-author of the study at the time, said in the Guardian that he was "not at all surprised" by the findings of the Brown study. In most cases, computer programs would be hidden behind suspicious accounts.
The more such "Internet trolls" there are, the more likely people are to believe that there is a "diversity of opinion" regarding the climate crisis and its causes, which in turn weakens climate science.
"Dangerous and influential"
John Cook, an Australian cognitive scientist and co-author of the Lewandowsky study, said in the Guardian that bots are "dangerous and potentially influential." For example, he said, there is evidence that people who are exposed to facts and fake news at the same time are often misled.
"This is one of the most insidious and dangerous elements of misinformation spread by bots - not only is misinformation persuasive to people, but the very existence of misinformation on social media can cause people to trust the accurate information less or disengage from the facts altogether."
As the Guardian also writes, in the U.S., advocates of measures to address the climate crisis fear that bot activity on Twitter will continue to increase in the wake of the U.S. presidential election this year. "Even though we don't know who they are or their exact motives, it seems obvious that Trump thrives on the positive support he receives from these bots and their creators," Ed Maibach, a climate communications expert at George Mason University, told The Guardian." (Source: InfoSperber)
