Extreme Weather: The New Frontline of Online Climate Denial

Climate science deniers are flooding social media with false claims during extreme weather events, drowning out reliable information and putting lives at risk.

A new report by the Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH), which researches and campaigns against online hatred and disinformation, finds that anti-climate figures are increasingly spreading false information about wildfires and hurricanes fueled by climate change.

CCDH looked at the most popular misleading social media posts spread by influential climate science deniers between April 2023 and April 2025, using DeSmog’s climate disinformation database to identify the most prominent deniers.

Analyzing Facebook, Instagram, X and YouTube, it found that three-quarters of the most popular misleading posts focused on extreme weather events.  

These posts received hundreds of million of views across the two-year period, spreading doubt about the causes of the disasters and even maligning the work of emergency responders.

The wildfires in Los Angeles this year, which killed at least 30 people and destroyed thousands of homes, accounted for 38% of the posts. Hurricane Helene, which hit the southeastern United States in September 2024 and caused more than 250 deaths, accounted for 14% of the posts.

Baseless claims made by U.S. conspiracy theorist Alex Jones during the L.A. wildfires received 408 million views on X. Jones claimed without evidence that the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) was “confiscating food” and that the fires were a “globalist” plot.

Those posts received more views on X than the information distributed on the platform by 10 key emergency response accounts — including FEMA, the fire department and local government — and the 10 largest U.S. news outlets.

Those behind the false information were “preventing informed debate and risking lives during crisis events,” the report states.

CCDH also found that online platforms often boosted false claims, while almost all of the posts were allowed to remain on the platforms without being fact-checked.

It follows an investigation by Media Matters last month finding that half of the top 10 most popular online shows — including those hosted by ex-mixed martial arts fighter Joe Rogan and disgraced former comedian Russell Brand — spread misinformation or false narratives about Hurricane Helene.

“While families mourned and first responders combed through wreckage after climate disasters in Texas and California, social media companies shamelessly exploited these catastrophes for profit. The rapid spread of climate conspiracies online isn’t accidental, it’s baked into a business model that profits from outrage and division,” said Imran Ahmed, CEO of CCDH. 

“When distraught people can’t distinguish real help from online deception, platforms become complicit in the suffering of innocent people.”

Wildfire of disinformation

The report notes that accurate information is being buried by false claims in online spaces.

U.K. accounts also played a part. A video by the right-wing broadcaster GB News posted in January entitled “The truth behind the LA Fires: DEI and Left-wing policies burned LA” dismissed the role of climate change in the disaster, calling it “bogus nonsense.” 

A study by scientists at the World Weather Attribution found that climate change made the L.A. wildfires 35% more likely.

The CCDH report said that “superspreader” Jones — who in 2022 was ordered to pay $1.3 billion to the families of the Sandy Hook school shooting in Connecticut after claiming it was a hoax — had “drowned out credible information on LA wildfires”.

“When inaccurate information spreads in an acute weather crisis, it can put lives at risk, misleading people about the danger they are in”, it notes. “It can also endanger first responders, disrupt life-saving decisions, and mislead people about the aid that they need.”

The role of social media platforms

The report also notes that false claims are being boosted by online platforms.

Eighty-eight percent of the posts identified on X were from “verified users” as were 73% on YouTube, and 64% on Meta platforms. Whereas X’s blue verification stamp was previously given to those who were considered to be high-profile or a public authority, the badge can now be bought by anyone. 

One in three misleading YouTube videos recommended more climate denial content next to them.

The platforms also profited from this misinformation. YouTube placed advertisements next to 29% of its misleading extreme weather videos. Five of the accounts on X spreading false information about extreme weather were signed up for the site’s paid subscription services.

Meta also shares advertising revenue with three accounts that have spread misleading information — including MAGA influencer Charlie Kirk and Fox News host Laura Ingraham — via a program that allows users to make money from ads shown alongside their videos.

X has been accused of boosting extreme, false and hateful content since tech billionaire Elon Musk, a far-right sympathizer, took over the platform in October 2022.

Following Donald Trump’s victory in November’s U.S. presidential election, Meta owner Mark Zuckerberg also announced that his platforms would abandon the use of independent fact-checkers.