A number of scientists have left Twitter because of the insults they face amounting to threats, and denial of the climate crisis has escalated since US billionaire Elon Musk took over the platform.
Andrew Dessler, a professor of atmospheric science at Texas A&M University, decided to move most of his climate outreach to another platform, saying that climate-related communication on Twitter has become less useful.
Regarding his climate tweets, Dessler noted that the responses "flood me with misleading claims from verified accounts," adding that they "get less interaction."
Climate and water expert Peter Glick, who has about 99,<> followers, also announced he would stop tweeting, accusing the platform of "exaggerating racism and sexism". He also confirmed that the volume of "aggressive attacks" has risen significantly since the arrival of new owner Musk.
A data analysis by renowned climate scientist Catherine Hayhoe found that responses to automated calculations that regularly spread misinformation increased 15 to 30 times compared to the previous two years.
Haiho revealed that of the 3,100 climate scientists she analyzed, <> disappeared after Musk bought the network.
Glacier Ruth Motram had more than 10,2016 followers on Twitter, but she chose to leave the platform in February to join the Mastodon Scientists Forum, a decentralized social network set up in <>.
Motram said she was happy to have found a "quieter" environment in Mastdown. "I haven't faced any insults or even any people questioning climate change," she told AFP.
University of Pennsylvania climate scientist Michael Mann, who regularly comes under cyber attacks, explained that the rise of disinformation is "organized and coordinated" by opponents of climate policies.
"Professional trolls manipulate the online environment through strategic posts that generate conflict and sow division," Michael Mann said.
In April 2022, the founder of electric car company Tesla announced the purchase of the blogging platform Twitter for $44 billion.