San Francisco (AFP) - Twitter on Friday banned misleading ads related to climate change, aiming not to undermine efforts to protect the environment.

This decision, issued by the platform on "Earth Day", comes in light of the great criticism that the giant platform is exposed to against the background of gaps in content supervision, whether from those who accuse it of practicing severe censorship or those who blame it in return for lax content management.

"We consider that skepticism about climate change should not help generate revenue for Twitter, and that misleading ads should not distract from important discussions about the climate crisis," the social network said in a statement.

The statement added that ads that "contradict the consensus of scientists" on climate will no longer pass on the platform. To decide which ads to block, Twitter will draw on data from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

And in early April, the international body published new reports showing that humans are "without a doubt" responsible for global warming, as the Earth's temperature has risen by about 1.1 degrees Celsius since the pre-industrial era. This rise is expected to reach +1.5 or +1.6°C by 2030, ten years earlier than previously expected, with dire consequences.

Large platforms are constantly accused of not adequately addressing the misinformation circulating in them, especially on sensitive topics from politics to climate, as this misinformation can have tragic repercussions on the ground.
"We know misinformation about climate change can undermine efforts to protect the planet," Twitter added.
YouTube took similar measures at the end of 2021, while Facebook prefers to prioritize highlighting indisputable scientific facts through a section dedicated to the environment on its network.
On Thursday, former US President Barack Obama called for more oversight on communication sites to be more responsible and transparent, noting that the main problem with misleading information is not “what people publish” as much as it is “the content that these platforms promote.”
Parallel to Obama's enthusiasm on this subject, Tesla chief Elon Musk is seeking to acquire Twitter to make it a private company (not listed on the stock exchange).
The richest man in the world, known for his penchant for sarcasm, provocations and jokes, believes that Twitter curbs freedom of expression. He promised that if he acquired the company, he would impose less stringent restrictions on content.