Twitter accounts run by machines are a major source of climate change disinformation that might drain support from policies to address rising temperatures.
In the weeks surrounding former President Trump’s announcement about withdrawing from the Paris Agreement, accounts suspected of being bots accounted for roughly a quarter of all tweets about climate change, according to new research.
“If we are to effectively address the existential crisis of climate change, bot presence in the online discourse is a reality that scientists, social movements and those concerned about democracy have to better grapple with,” wrote Thomas Marlow, a postdoctoral researcher at the New York University, Abu Dhabi, campus, and his co-authors.
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Source: Twitter Bots Are a Major Source of Climate Disinformation | Scientific American