Lawmakers want Facebook, YouTube to do more to stop climate denial
A group of lawmakers is calling for platforms to do more about climate change misinformation.
- She has a master's degree in journalism from Syracuse University.
Lawmakers have questions for Zuckerberg and other tech CEOs.
A group of more than 30 lawmakers has sent a letter to several tech CEOs calling for more to be done about climate change misinformation on their platforms.
Rep. Donald McEachin, a Virginia Democrat, organized a letter to Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki, Reddit CEO Steve Huffman and Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey, McEachin's office confirmed Monday.
"With the consequences of inaction towards climate change becoming ever more catastrophic and dire, we believe you have a responsibility to your users to stop those seeking to blur the lines between facts based on climate science and those peddling pseudoscience," the letter reportedly reads, adding that "the broader safeguards you have adopted have not sufficiently stemmed the tide of disinformation regarding climate change online."
The letter, for example, raises concerns that adding a Wikipedia link to video with dubious information on climate change isn't enough.
"Nowhere on the page is there more contextual information, for example, regarding the source, or where and how the source gathered its data," the letter says, also explaining that climate change denialism on social media is "feed[ing] a cycle of climate inaction."
The letter also includes six questions for the tech CEOs to answer, starting with: "Do you agree that the spread of climate change disinformation on your respective platforms is a problem?"
Facebook, YouTube and Reddit didn't immediately respond to a request for comment. A Twitter spokesperson confirmed that the company has received the letter and intends to respond.
This comes as tech CEOs, including Zuckerberg, are set to testify before Congress this week over antitrust concerns.
