<p>Scientists suffering insults and mass-spam are abandoning Twitter for alternative social networks as hostile climate-change denialism surges on the platform following Elon Musk's takeover.</p>.<p>Researchers have documented an explosion of hate and misinformation on Twitter since the Tesla billionaire took over in October 2022 -- and now experts say communicating about climate science on the social network on which many of them rely is getting harder.</p>.<p>Policies aimed at curbing the deadly effects of climate change are accelerating, prompting a rise in what experts identify as organised resistance by opponents of climate reform.</p>.<p>Peter Gleick, a climate and water specialist with nearly 99,000 followers, announced on May 21 he would no longer post on the platform because it was amplifying racism and sexism.</p>.<p>While he is accustomed to "offensive, personal, ad hominem attacks, up to and including direct physical threats", he told <em>AFP</em>, "in the past few months, since the takeover and changes at Twitter, the amount, vituperativeness, and intensity of abuse has skyrocketed".</p>.<p><strong>Also Read | <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/national/india-lost-over-13-lakh-lives-in-disasters-linked-to-extreme-weather-climate-change-in-50-years-un-agency-1221079.html" target="_blank">India lost over 1.3 lakh lives in disasters linked to extreme weather, climate change in 50 years: UN agency</a></strong></p>.<p>Robert Rohde, a physicist and lead scientist at the non-profit environmental data analysis group Berkeley Earth, analysed activity on hundreds of accounts of widely followed specialists posting about climate science before and after the takeover.</p>.<p>He found climate scientists' tweets were losing impact. The average number of likes they received was down 38 percent and average retweets fell 40 percent.</p>.<p>Twitter has not commented directly about what changes it has made to the algorithms that drive traffic and visibility.</p>.<p>Contacted at its email address for comment, its press department returned its now customary reply, an automated email with a "poop" emoji.</p>.<p>But in a tweet seen as an acknowledgement of a deliberate change, Musk wrote in January: "People on the right should see more 'left-wing' stuff and people on the left should see more 'right-wing' stuff. But you can just block it if you want to stay in an echo chamber."</p>.<p>In another analysis, prominent climatologist Katharine Hayhoe monitored responses to a tweet on climate change which she published twice, as an experiment, on separate dates before and after the takeover.</p>.<p>She counted the hostile comments and examined them for signs that they came from bots -- automated accounts that researchers say are pushing mass misinformation.</p>.<p>Inauthentic accounts can be identified by analysis tools such as Bot Sentinel.</p>.<p><strong>Also Read | <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/international/world-news-politics/climate-activists-briefly-disrupt-air-traffic-in-geneva-1221325.html" target="_blank">Climate activists briefly disrupt air traffic in Geneva</a></strong></p>.<p>Replies from apparent trolls or bots increased 15 to 30 times over a two-month period compared to the previous two years, Hayhoe tweeted in January 2023.</p>.<p>"Before October, my account was growing steadily at a rate of at least several thousand new followers a month. Since then, it has not changed," she told <em>AFP</em>.</p>.<p>Andrew Dessler, professor of atmospheric sciences at Texas A&M University, said he was moving most of his climate communication to Substack, a newsletter platform.</p>.<p>"Climate communications on Twitter are less useful (now) given that I can see that my tweets are getting less engagement," he said.</p>.<p>"In response to almost any tweet concerning climate change, I find my notifications inundated with replies from verified accounts making misleading or misguided claims."</p>.<p>Others have abandoned Twitter altogether.</p>.<p>Hayhoe said that of a Twitter list of 3,000 climate scientists that she keeps, 100 disappeared after the takeover.</p>.<p>Glaciologist Ruth Mottram had more than 10,000 followers on Twitter but left in February and joined an alternative scientists' forum powered by Mastodon -- a crowdfunded, decentralised grouping of social networks founded in 2016.</p>.<p>"It's really been a revelation in many ways. It's a much quieter and more thoughtful platform," she told <em>AFP</em>.</p>.<p>On Mastodon, "I haven't had any abuse at all or even people questioning climate change. I think we'd become far too used to it on Twitter... I had blocked loads of accounts over on the birdsite (Twitter)," she said.</p>.<p>Michael Mann, a prominent climate scientist at the University of Pennsylvania and a regular target for abuse by deniers of climate change, said he believed the rise in misinformation was "organised and orchestrated" by opponents of climate reforms.</p>.<p>"I've seen a huge rise in trolls and bots. Many target tweets of mine for attack," he said.</p>.<p>Mann's 2021 book <em>The New Climate War</em> documented action by oil producers to sow climate denialism on social media.</p>.<p>"The professional trolls manipulate the online environment with strategic posts that generate conflict and division, leading to a feeding frenzy," he told <em>AFP</em>.</p>
<p>Scientists suffering insults and mass-spam are abandoning Twitter for alternative social networks as hostile climate-change denialism surges on the platform following Elon Musk's takeover.</p>.<p>Researchers have documented an explosion of hate and misinformation on Twitter since the Tesla billionaire took over in October 2022 -- and now experts say communicating about climate science on the social network on which many of them rely is getting harder.</p>.<p>Policies aimed at curbing the deadly effects of climate change are accelerating, prompting a rise in what experts identify as organised resistance by opponents of climate reform.</p>.<p>Peter Gleick, a climate and water specialist with nearly 99,000 followers, announced on May 21 he would no longer post on the platform because it was amplifying racism and sexism.</p>.<p>While he is accustomed to "offensive, personal, ad hominem attacks, up to and including direct physical threats", he told <em>AFP</em>, "in the past few months, since the takeover and changes at Twitter, the amount, vituperativeness, and intensity of abuse has skyrocketed".</p>.<p><strong>Also Read | <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/national/india-lost-over-13-lakh-lives-in-disasters-linked-to-extreme-weather-climate-change-in-50-years-un-agency-1221079.html" target="_blank">India lost over 1.3 lakh lives in disasters linked to extreme weather, climate change in 50 years: UN agency</a></strong></p>.<p>Robert Rohde, a physicist and lead scientist at the non-profit environmental data analysis group Berkeley Earth, analysed activity on hundreds of accounts of widely followed specialists posting about climate science before and after the takeover.</p>.<p>He found climate scientists' tweets were losing impact. The average number of likes they received was down 38 percent and average retweets fell 40 percent.</p>.<p>Twitter has not commented directly about what changes it has made to the algorithms that drive traffic and visibility.</p>.<p>Contacted at its email address for comment, its press department returned its now customary reply, an automated email with a "poop" emoji.</p>.<p>But in a tweet seen as an acknowledgement of a deliberate change, Musk wrote in January: "People on the right should see more 'left-wing' stuff and people on the left should see more 'right-wing' stuff. But you can just block it if you want to stay in an echo chamber."</p>.<p>In another analysis, prominent climatologist Katharine Hayhoe monitored responses to a tweet on climate change which she published twice, as an experiment, on separate dates before and after the takeover.</p>.<p>She counted the hostile comments and examined them for signs that they came from bots -- automated accounts that researchers say are pushing mass misinformation.</p>.<p>Inauthentic accounts can be identified by analysis tools such as Bot Sentinel.</p>.<p><strong>Also Read | <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/international/world-news-politics/climate-activists-briefly-disrupt-air-traffic-in-geneva-1221325.html" target="_blank">Climate activists briefly disrupt air traffic in Geneva</a></strong></p>.<p>Replies from apparent trolls or bots increased 15 to 30 times over a two-month period compared to the previous two years, Hayhoe tweeted in January 2023.</p>.<p>"Before October, my account was growing steadily at a rate of at least several thousand new followers a month. Since then, it has not changed," she told <em>AFP</em>.</p>.<p>Andrew Dessler, professor of atmospheric sciences at Texas A&M University, said he was moving most of his climate communication to Substack, a newsletter platform.</p>.<p>"Climate communications on Twitter are less useful (now) given that I can see that my tweets are getting less engagement," he said.</p>.<p>"In response to almost any tweet concerning climate change, I find my notifications inundated with replies from verified accounts making misleading or misguided claims."</p>.<p>Others have abandoned Twitter altogether.</p>.<p>Hayhoe said that of a Twitter list of 3,000 climate scientists that she keeps, 100 disappeared after the takeover.</p>.<p>Glaciologist Ruth Mottram had more than 10,000 followers on Twitter but left in February and joined an alternative scientists' forum powered by Mastodon -- a crowdfunded, decentralised grouping of social networks founded in 2016.</p>.<p>"It's really been a revelation in many ways. It's a much quieter and more thoughtful platform," she told <em>AFP</em>.</p>.<p>On Mastodon, "I haven't had any abuse at all or even people questioning climate change. I think we'd become far too used to it on Twitter... I had blocked loads of accounts over on the birdsite (Twitter)," she said.</p>.<p>Michael Mann, a prominent climate scientist at the University of Pennsylvania and a regular target for abuse by deniers of climate change, said he believed the rise in misinformation was "organised and orchestrated" by opponents of climate reforms.</p>.<p>"I've seen a huge rise in trolls and bots. Many target tweets of mine for attack," he said.</p>.<p>Mann's 2021 book <em>The New Climate War</em> documented action by oil producers to sow climate denialism on social media.</p>.<p>"The professional trolls manipulate the online environment with strategic posts that generate conflict and division, leading to a feeding frenzy," he told <em>AFP</em>.</p>