Regardless of whether people choose to believe in climate change or not, there will always be a massive amount of misinformation about the topic being shared across the internet and social media. Last year, an independent watchdog reported that on Facebook alone, there were an estimated 45,000 posts across 95 climate change denial pages, downplaying or completely denying the severity of the current climate crisis. On the other side of the scale, many individuals are looking for solutions to live more sustainably. Recently, Pinterest reported an increase in interest in sustainable suggestions compared to last year, with searches for ‘waste-free tips’ increasing 6 times, ‘recycled home décor’ by 95%, and ‘waste-free lifestyle’ increasing by 6 times. 64%. As a result, Pinterest is rolling out a new policy that partners with the Climate Misinformation Alliance and Conscious Advertising Network to prevent misinformation about climate change from appearing online, giving its users the best possible experience.
The policy has been developed to inform information subjects based on common themes of misinformation that the Conscious Ad Network sees spread across social media platforms. This will be the first of its kind, making Pinterest the only major digital platform that has clearly established guidelines against false information on climate change. This includes misinformation in any way and conspiracy theories via content and ads.
“Climate disinformation combined with advertising tools is clearly delaying the taking of meaningful climate action. The Conscious Advertising Network is pleased to partner with Pinterest, which is taking a real leadership position by advancing strong, thoughtful and comprehensive climate disinformation policy. We are looking at what we are looking at,” said Jake Dobbins, President. Conscious Ad Network Participant:
The Community and Advertising Guidelines have been updated to follow the rules of the Misleading Information Policy, with any content that violates the Terms that could harm the public’s welfare, safety, or trust removed from the app. Examples of this content include:
- Content that denies the existence or effects of climate change, human influence on climate change, or that climate change is supported by scientific consensus.
- False or misleading content about climate change solutions goes against the established scientific consensus.
- Content that distorts scientific data, including by omitting or cherry-picking, in order to erode trust in climate science and experts.
- Harmful, false or misleading content about public safety emergencies, including natural disasters and extreme weather events.
Sarah Bromma, Head of Policy at Pinterest, shared her views on the recent move: “Pinterest believes in growing a trusted and honest space for those who use our platform. This bold move is an expansion of our broader guidelines on misinformation, which we first developed in 2017 to tackle misinformation. related to public health and has since been updated to address new and emerging issues as they come to the fore. The expanded climate disinformation policy is another step in Pinterest’s journey to combat misinformation and create a safe online space.”
To further encourage sustainable living, creators from around the world will co-launch an original content series on the platform. This content will see creators work to inspire app users with educational videos and tips on topics like saving tips, recycling clothes, reducing waste, and much more. Additionally, users searching for related topics such as “sustainable living” will be directed towards articles featuring curated panels and content surrounding sustainable choices.
Michael Coe, co-chair of climate disinformation at Friends of the Earth, commented on the initiative, “Climate disinformation on digital platforms is a serious threat to the public support needed to solve the climate crisis. Pinterest has shown great leadership by creating a community standard that includes a definition of climate misinformation. We will continue to press all platforms for transparency and to report their actions. We encourage others to take note of Pinterest’s efforts to reduce misinformation related to climate change.”
