Facebook is a big obstacle to averting climate catastrophe, scientists say | ThinkProgress

Another rough week for the Facebook PR department; also see ‘Sexist trash’: Hillary Clinton slams Facebook for keeping up Pelosi videos | Politico and Pelosi says altered videos show Facebook leaders were ‘willing enablers’ of Russian election interference | Washington Post

"This new fiasco comes just weeks after Facebook hired an arm of the conservative, anti-science media site The Daily Caller, funded in part by Charles and David Koch, to serve as the company’s newest “fact checkers.” (The Kochs, who made their fortune largely on fossil fuels and petrochemicals, have long funneled money to groups who spread misinformation on climate change.)

So, ThinkProgress asked some experts what Facebook’s latest actions mean for the national conversation on climate change.

“Facebook is complicit in spreading outright falsehoods and misinforming the public about matters of public concern,” environmental sociologist Robert Brulle wrote in an email. The company’s “refusal to take down this blatant distortion of Speaker Pelosi shows that they are an irresponsible actor, and contributing to the decline of public discourse.”

Brulle explained that Facebook’s actions are particularly disastrous since there are so many issues critical to public well-being that require an accurately informed public, such as vaccinations and climate change."

Facebook is a big obstacle to averting climate catastrophe, scientists say | ThinkProgress