Major climate disinformation initiative at Boston University exploring the critical role of communication in shaping public opinion on climate in the United States.
The BU Climate Disinformation Initiative analyzes the nature, origins, spread, and impacts of climate change mis- and disinformation, as well as the possibilities of mitigating misinformed beliefs. The initiative launched in 2022 with a year-long study: Data and Misinformation in an Era of Sustainability and Climate Change Crises, jointly funded by the Institute for Global Sustainability and the Rafik B. Hariri Institute for Computing and Computational Science & Engineering.
Latest News
Related Publications
The “Future of Energy”? Building Resilience to ExxonMobil’s Disinformation through Disclosures and Inoculation (3/4/2025) - npj Climate ActionTaking on Climate Lies Symposium
Key Findings
Learn more about emerging research insights from the initiative’s three research themes presented at the 2023 Taking on Climate Lies Symposium:
- How climate disinformation spreads through social media sites, primarily Twitter (now known as X) and Reddit
- How native advertising, a deceptive form of paid content that mimics news articles, is employed for corporate communications campaigns
- What influence disinformation has on public attitudes, including which intervention strategies effectively dispel misperceptions about climate change
Delve further into BU’s research looking at misinformation on Twitter (now known as X) and Reddit, native advertising and climate disinformation, and misinformation-susceptible publics from the symposium.
Related News Coverage
- Media Outlets Still Make Fossil Fuel Companies’ Ads for Them: Here’s How They Could Make Them Less Misleading (Drilled, March 21, 2025)
- Study: News Outlets Can’t Run ‘Native’ Exxon Ads without Misleading the Public (ExxonKnews, March 10, 2025)
- Tweets, Ads, and Lies: Researchers Are Fighting against Climate Misinformation (The Brink, May 23, 2023)
- That “News Story” on Climate Change You’re Reading Might Be a Greenwashing Ad Instead: COM-led study seeks effective counters to disinformation about planetary warming (BU Today, February 6, 2023)
- How Do I Talk to a Climate Change Denier? (BU Today, September 26, 2022)
- Combating Misinformation In The Age of Technology (BU Experts, July 29, 2022)
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Project Leaders
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Chris Wells
Affiliated Faculty, IGS;
Associate Dean of Faculty Development and Associate Professor of Emerging Media Studies, College of Communication -
Irena Vodenska
Affiliated Faculty, IGS;
Professor of Finance, Director of Finance Programs, and Chair of Administrative Sciences, Metropolitan College -
Sarah Finnie
Founding Director, The 51 Percent Project
Team Champions
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Arunima Krishna
Associate Director, IGS;
Associate Professor, Department of Mass Communication, Advertising & Public Relations, College of Communication -
Gianluca Stringhini
Assistant Professor, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, College of Engineering
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Hyunuk Kim
Assistant Professor, Department of Administrative Sciences, Metropolitan College
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Michelle Amazeen
Core Faculty, IGS;
Associate Professor of Mass Communication and Associate Dean of Research, College of Communication