Facebook Launches Resource Center To Fight Climate Misinformation

Facebook Inc FB CEO Mark Zuckerberg said Tuesday that the social media platform is launching a dedicated “Climate Science Information Center,” which will contain “authoritative information” from global climate organizations.

What Happened: Zuckerberg said in a post on Facebook that the information available on the Climate Science Information Center would be garnered from factual sources and trusted organizations and “include actionable steps you can take in your everyday life to combat climate change.”

Zuckerberg also laid out steps the social networking platform will take to achieve “net zero” emissions from its global operations by 2030.

The information center will be launched in France, Germany, the United Kingdom, and the United States initially and rolled out to other countries in the near future, Facebook said in a statement.

Why It Matters: The Menlo Park, California-based company said it will apply fact check labels on both Facebook and Instagram posts and reduce the distribution of climate-related posts deemed false by its fact-checkers. 

The move by the social media company comes after misinformation about wildfires raging in the U.S. Pacific north-west spread on social media. Rumors on Facebook emerged that such fires were started by Antifa, a group of leftist activists, the Guardian reported.

Facebook allegedly exempted posts on climate change from an external fact-checking system and has faced criticism on that account, according to Reuters.

The company’s global policy chief Nick Clegg told Reuters that it would continue to exempt false claims on climate change which are posted by politicians.

The social network giant had instituted similar measures to deal with misinformation related to the COVID-19 pandemic, which according to its product chief Chris Cox had garnered over 600 million clicks.

Price Action: Facebook shares closed nearly 0.2% lower at $266.15 on Friday and gained 0.45% in the after-hours session.