Scientists facing a wave of insults or even threats on Twitter are now leaving the famous social network, where climate denialism has surged since its takeover by Elon Musk.
Peter Gleick, a climate and water expert followed by nearly 99,000 people on Twitter, announced on May 21 that he would no longer post on the platform, accusing it of amplifying racism and sexism.
The researcher says he is used to "aggressive, personal and ad hominem attacks, going as far as direct physical threats". But, he told AFP, "in recent months, since the arrival of the new owner and the changes at Twitter, the amount and intensity of attacks has skyrocketed".
Since buying Twitter six months ago, billionaire Elon Musk has eased moderation on problematic content and let back previously banned figures like Donald Trump.
Robert Rohde, of the Berkeley Earth association, also analyzed the activity of hundreds of accounts of highly followed specialists speaking about climate science, before and after the purchase of Twitter.
He concluded that these tweets no longer had the same resonance: the average number of "likes" (to mark approval) fell by 38% and they were retweeted 40% less often.
Twitter has not commented directly on the changes to its algorithms, which drive traffic and visibility on the network. Contacted, the firm's press service responded with an automatically generated email... with an emoji in the shape of a poo.
Elon Musk had, however, explained in January the philosophy behind the changes: "people on the right should see more stuff from the left and people on the left should see more stuff from the right". "But you can just block if you want to stay in an echo chamber."
In another analysis, famed climate scientist Katharine Hayhoe looked at reactions to a single tweet she voluntarily posted twice, before and after the Twitter takeover.
Responses from trolls or bots - automated accounts that regularly spread misinformation - had increased 15 to 30 times compared to the previous two years, she said.
Until the takeover of Twitter in October, "my account was growing steadily, with at least several thousand new people following me every month. But that hasn't changed since," she told AFP. .
- "professional trolls" -
Andrew Dessler, professor of atmospheric science at University A
"Communications about climate on Twitter are less useful (now) because I see my tweets getting less engagement," he says.
“In response to almost any tweet about climate change, I am inundated with replies from verified accounts with misleading or misinformed claims,” he points out.
Others have simply given up on Twitter. Katharine Hayhoe calculates that of the 3,000 climate scientists she listed, 100 disappeared after the bluebird firm was taken over.
Glaciologist Ruth Mottram was followed by more than 10,000 people on Twitter but chose to leave in February, joining a forum of scientists on Mastodon, a decentralized social network created in 2016.
She is pleased to have found a "much calmer" environment there. "I didn't meet any insults or even people who question climate change," she told AFP.
Michael Mann, a renowned climatologist at the University of Pennsylvania, himself regularly attacked online, believes that the rise in disinformation is "organized and orchestrated" by opponents of climate policies.
In a book published in 2022 ("The new climate war", not translated), he reported on the action of oil producers to encourage climate denialism on social networks.
"Professional trolls manipulate the environment on the internet with strategic posts that generate conflict and division," he told AFP.
05/24/2023 07:52:40 - Paris (AFP) - © 2023 AFP
