Climate of confusion: Bot-like accounts sharing climate disinformation

Building on an earlier Global Witness investigation into 45 bot-like accounts on X that had amplified divisive political content since the UK general election was called, this report examined how a subset of those accounts engaged with climate topics. Accounts were flagged as bot-like using a methodology built on indicators such as prolific posting, low original-content volume, and signs of rapid account creation timed to political events, supplemented by manual checks for authentic human activity.

Of the accounts studied, 22 of the 45 previously identified bot-like accounts shared climate disinformation or conspiracy content, with 14 — all supportive of Reform UK — using the hashtag #ClimateScam, frequently paired with other conspiracy tags such as #geoengineering or #billgates and policy-focused tags like #netzerostupidity. Documented claims included assertions that a "major new study" had disproven CO2's role in global warming.

Global Witness concluded that climate denial content was being used within these networks as part of a broader political identity that also encompassed anti-migrant, anti-LGBTQ, and anti-Ukraine messaging, tying climate disinformation to wider currents of far-right online mobilization rather than treating it as an isolated topic.