Oh, the horrors of climate denialists having actual free speech online!
So say the climate doomsday propagandists.
French wire service Agence France-Presse (AFP) wrote a piece complaining about an alleged “surge in misinformation” on Twitter since Elon Musk became the platform’s owner. AFP pointed to the trending #ClimateScam which was the first search suggestion when a user searched the word “climate” on Tuesday morning.
But the outlet’s liberty-bashing incidentally highlighted Musk’s commitment to allowing free speech on Twitter, including speech he might not fully agree with.
AFP asserted that the top tag on Twitter “#ClimateScam” is evidence of “a rise in misinformation following Elon Musk’s takeover of the platform.” But the outlet made no mention of any specific tweets and made no effort to refute any specific examples of misinformation that are allegedly running rampant on the platform.
Instead, the outlet cited unnamed “analysts,” “campaigners,” “researchers,” a report by the megadonor George Soros-funded Institute for Strategic Dialogue, and far-left group Climate Action Against Disinformation (CAAD).
AFP neglected to mention that Musk has repeatedly shown he cares about the environment and that environmental protection is one of his key focus areas.
In 2021, Musk topped Bloomberg News’s list of 15 green billionaires. And in a 2018 Rolling Stone interview, Musk went so far as to say that climate change was “the biggest threat that humanity faces this century, except for AI.”
More recently, however, Musk has advocated for pragmatic energy solutions amid rising energy prices. In August, he tweeted in support of nuclear power, widely regarded as a clean energy source.
“Countries should be increasing nuclear power generation!” Musk posted. “It is insane from a national security standpoint & bad for the environment to shut them down.”
Musk’s nuanced ideas on the environment and energy show the need for open and robust debate and they appear to reflect the wide array of ideas the “Chief Twit” allows on Twitter.
Musk’s accommodation of free speech–in this case, so-called “climate denialism”–comes after Big Media and President Joe Biden himself have criticized Twitter’s new free speech model.
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