Climate crisis misinformation is thriving on Elon Musk's Twitter, research shows

• Misinformation about the environment is flourishing on Elon Musk's Twitter, a study said.
• The study said Twitter recommended "#ClimateScam" when users search for "climate."

Misinformation about the climate crisis is flourishing on Elon Musk's Twitter, according to a study.

The study, published on Thursday by Climate Action Against Disinformation (CAAD), said Twitter was recommending the hashtag "#ClimateScam" when users search "climate." At the time of publication, Twitter was recommending the hashtag to several Insider employees as the top search result for "climate."

Referencing the hashtag, the study said that "in 2022, denialist content made a stark comeback on Twitter in particular."

The hashtag suddenly spiked on Twitter in July, and had been on an upwards trajectory ever since, the study said. By December, more than 91,000 unique users had mentioned the tag more than 362,000 times, it added.

The report said the term appeared to be trending despite "data that shows more activity and engagement on other hashtags such as #ClimateCrisis and #ClimateEmergency." The researchers added that its prominence couldn't be explained by personalization, volume of content, or popularity.

The source of the #ClimateScam hashtag was unclear and highlighted the need for transparency on how content was surfaced to users, per the study.

Only some of the content under the hashtag was labeled as misinformation, the report said.

Elon Musk has slashed Twitter's content moderation team since he bought the platform in October last year. He has also taken issue with some of Twitter's past content moderation decisions, including the suspension of former US president Donald Trump following the January 6 Capitol riots.

Representatives for Twitter did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.