<
https://reneweconomy.com.au/australia-has-a-major-climate-disinformation-problem-and-fixing-it-will-take-a-huge-effort/>
"Australia is experiencing a “proliferation” of misinformation and
disinformation about climate and renewable energy, a major new report has
warned, and fixing it will require a whole-of-government approach, from
boosting funding for scientific research to national campaigns to boost digital
literacy.
A final report from the Senate inquiry into climate mis-information and
dis-information, published on Wednesday, outlines a daunting 21 directions the
federal government should take to improve “information integrity” on the
divisive topics of energy and climate change.
“The integrity of Australia’s information ecosystem is threatened by a
proliferation of misinformation and disinformation, which is polarising public
discourse and eroding trust in science and knowledge institutions,” the report
says.
“The motivations behind the spread of climate change mis/disinformation are
also complex, ranging from genuine community concerns through to ideological,
political and commercial narratives that can amplify or delay climate action,
protect established business models, or increase community divisions.”
The committee was announced in July last year to look into how social media, AI
and false or misleading claims are being used to skew people’s views on climate
change and renewable energy.
It heard appalling stories of threats to landowners, abuse of bushfire victims
and coordinated and sophisticated social media attacks on community groups.
It was also flooded with claims that climate scientists and the government are
the real problem with climate obstruction from the likes of the Institute of
Public Affairs on full display.
The final report recommends better funding for a wide range of civil society
and government bodies.
These include more funding for regional and independent journalism, independent
monitoring of dark money and hidden influence ecosystems, for regulators to
combat greenwashing, digital literacy education, and for the Australian Energy
Infrastructure Commissioner (AEIC) which has been a strong advocate for
communities.
The whole-of society approach won plaudits from the Climate Action Against
Disinformation (CAAD) coalition, which says Baltic states have taken the same
approach successfully against propaganda from Russia."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
