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Daily Archives: September 20, 2023

Twitter Ranked Dead Last on Climate Misinformation Scorecard

Climate Action Against Disinformation (CAAD) Report: “Misinformation around climate change and disinformation fueled by the fossil fuel industry have stalled climate action for decades. Big Tech has become a complicit actor in climate denial’s resurgence—so much so that the International Governmental Panel on Climate Change publicly called out the problem in 2022. In addition, the United Nation’s Policy Brief for Information Integrity on Digital Platforms in June of 2023 explicitly states that: “Mis- and disinformation about the climate emergency are delaying urgently needed action to ensure a liveable future for the planet.” Over the past several years, platforms have announced some policies to stop the spread of false climate content. In 2021, Google pledged to no longer allow the monetization of climate denial content on YouTube. In early 2023, TikTok added climate to its existing mis- and disinformation policies. In 2022, Pinterest took the largest step, banning climate misinformation in both organic content and advertisements. Nevertheless, research from environmental and civil society groups shows that there are serious gaps in the way that policies targeting climate misinformation are written and enforced. The purpose of this scorecard is to assess the policies of five major platforms that should aim to reduce the spread of climate mis- and disinformation. We’ve scored and ranked Meta (Instagram and Facebook), TikTok, Twitter/X, YouTube, and Pinterest in accordance with the standards set by the Climate Action Against Disinformation Policy Demands and “In the Dark”, our transparency-focused scorecard from 2022. We call on platforms to review our rankings and use them to guide future policymaking around stopping the spread of climate denial, greenwashing, hate speech, and public health misinformation.”

USPTO new cloud-based trademark search system with basic and advanced search options

“As we recently noted, we are improving our search tools frequently used by patent and trademark filers and web visitors to provide a more multi-faceted, reliable search experience. To that end, we are excited to announce the launch of the beta version of our new trademark search system.    This new, cloud-based search system will replace… Continue Reading

Meet the Law Geeks Exposing Google’s Secretive Antitrust Trial

Wired – “A historic antitrust trial sees Google accused of unlawfully monopolizing search. A handful of antitrust activists are trying to make sure the world sees all the action.Google logo sign outside of a building on the Months out of law school, Yosef Weitzman already has a huge courtroom role in the biggest antitrust trial… Continue Reading

Disinformation and Civic Tech Playbook

Code for All: The misinformation management workflow Fact-checking Needs Assessment Funding Knowledge Exchange Globally distributed research partnerships Access to data Database analysis Platforms The specter of AI Acknowledgment The playbook includes: Directly applicable program ideas your organization can adopt Results of a needs assessment for civil society organizations fighting disinfo Access to an open collection… Continue Reading

Facility Level Information on Greenhouse Gases Tool

Via Jeremy Singer-Vine, Data is Plural: The EPA’s Facility Level Information on Greenhouse Gases Tool “gives you access to greenhouse gas data reported to EPA by large emitters, facilities that inject CO2 underground, and suppliers of products that result in GHG emissions when used in the United States.” The information comes from the agency’s Greenhouse… Continue Reading

Planetary Boundaries

“Throughout our collaboration with the esteemed researchers at the Stockholm Resilience Centre and the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, we have been privileged to contribute to the visualisation and communication of planetary boundaries over the years. Planetary Boundaries are a set of key concepts related to Earth’s capacity to maintain a stable and habitable… Continue Reading

DOI Drones

“Through a FOIA request to the US Department of the Interior, journalist Ben Welsh has obtained and published the agency’s drone roster. For each of the 850+ remote-controlled aircraft, the dataset lists the agency bureau and office, drone manufacturer, model, cost, serial number, and more. The FOIA request also unearthed spreadsheets listing specific drone flights… Continue Reading