Thread by @ISDglobal

‘Climate lockdown’ is a new type of disinformation that aims to drive fear about future ‘green tyranny’ – it claims gvmt overreach will be enacted under the pretext of climate change to strip people of civil liberties, using language explicitly related to the pandemic (1/12)

ISD tracked the emergence and spread of the ‘climate lockdown’ narrative, showing how poorly worded headlines from mainstream media were weaponised by right-wing outlets to warn of impending authoritarian doom. Read about it in our new report. (2/12) isdglobal.org/isd-publicatio…

A Guardian article with a misleading headline (top image, changed after a few hours to the bottom) suggesting a ‘global lockdown every two years’ was needed to combat climate change was the 2nd most shared link discussing ‘climate lockdown’, referred to in 28% of all posts (3/12)

Other key findings from ISD’s new report, "'Climate Lockdown' and the Culture Wars", include: *Key Finding* Right-wing populists have weaponised trauma from the #COVID19 pandemic to discredit the green agenda, prophesying future ‘green tyranny’ and government overreach. (4/12)

*Key Finding* ‘Climate lockdown’ bucks more recent trends, where conspiracies have gained momentum within fringe platforms before gradually piercing the mainstream. In this case, misleading or unfortunate headlines such as the below were seized upon by right-wing figures. (5/12)

*Key Finding* Framing green issues in the language of #COVID19 exposes audiences concerned about infringement on civil liberties – but with no specific stance on the climate – to a panoply of conspiracy theories including the ‘Great Reset’. (6/12)

*Key Finding* Rather than outright denial of climate change, which has limited mainstream appeal, this strategy casts doubts on the motives and methods of climate action. Our research shows how anti-climate activity is pivoting to a more abstract ‘culture war’ approach... (7/12)

… which is harder to regulate as it is wrapped up in broader debates that find space in mainstream media outlets. (8/12)

*Key Finding* #BigTech platform mechanisms fail to counter trends like these. Many lack explicit reference to climate-based disinformation in their Terms of Service; others provide exemptions for ‘opinion-based’ content which is weaponised by corporate/anti-climate actors (9/12)

Our coalition urges platforms to proactively tackle rampant mis/disinfo that:

1) Undermines the existence/impacts of or unequivocal human influence on #climatechange, and the need for action according to #IPCC scientific consensus and the goals of the #ParisAgreement (10/12)

2) Misrepresents scientific data, incl. by omission or cherry-picking, to erode trust in science, climate-focussed institutions, experts or solutions;

3) Falsely publicises efforts as supportive of climate goals that in fact contribute to climate warming #greenwashing. (11/12)

ISD is proud to partner with orgs like @CIFFchild @UE @DeSmogUK @stopfundingheat @Avaaz @consciousadnet @Global_Witness @Purpose @ausreset @ClimateNexus @skepticscience @michaelkhoo @foe_us @EnvDefenseFund @ECIU_UK @DisinfoIndex & more to identify/combat these threats. (12/12)