Social media misinformation has in recent years become a concerning phenomenon,
with problematic narratives ranging from fake news on the Covid-19 pandemic to
pseudoscientific fearmongering about the impacts of vaccines. Through our work
at Changing Markets Foundation’s methane
campaign, we have increasingly become aware about
the significant amount of misinformation posts around the environmental and
health impacts of meat and dairy. For this reason, we commissioned an analysis
that revealed a disturbing number of posts using conspiracy theories, junk
science and cultural wars with the goal to undermine a shift to more sustainable
food and farming around the globe.
‘Disparage’ and ‘enhance’ narratives and what drives them
Our report on meat and dairy social media misinformation — Truth, Lies and
Culture
Wars
— is based on the analysis of over 285 million digital posts on X,
Reddit and forums by Ripple Research during a 14-month period from 1
June 2022 to 31 July 2023, revealing that roughly 948,000 posts
featured misinformation. 78 percent of these conversations fell into the
“disparage” category — attacking plant-based proteins, vegan
diets
and climate science; a smaller share of posts (22 percent) fell into the
“enhance” category — where the health of environmental benefits of eating or
producing meat and dairy products were exaggerated — which we often refer to as
“greenwashing”
or
“health-washing.”
The biggest category of misinformation (which topped the World Economic
Forum’s list of Top Global Risks for
2024)
was driven by conspiracy theories such as The Great
Reset — which claims that
the ‘global elite’ coordinated the Covid-19 pandemic to bring about a socialist
world government, which would govern in favour of these elites. When it comes to
meat and dairy consumption, the theory posits that rich individuals such as
Bill Gates are plotting to weaken humanity into ‘diseased subjects’ by
feeding them insects and ‘fake
meat’
in order to maintain control.
‘Misinfluencers’ as a key driver of misinformation
Another interesting finding of our investigation was that over half of
engagement with misinformation posts was linked to just 50 accounts. These
so-called “misinfluencers” are highly engaged individuals or entities that
actively spread online misinformation. Some of them are right-wing media and
political figures, which have been the key players in the rise of the popularity
of conspiracy theories such as The Great Reset.
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For example, by 2021, the
term ‘Great Reset’ had received over eight million Facebook interactions and
almost two million Twitter shares. In October 2023, The Great Reset conspiracy
was translated into the documentary No Farmers No
Food — which explores “stories of
farmers forced out of business” and “the hidden agenda behind Green Policies
that are pushing people to eat bugs” — directed by misinfluencer Roman
Balakov of the Epoch Times, a far-right media
entity.
Dutch farmer protests and the rise of online conspiracy theories
No Farmers No Food is featured in our case study on how a transnational
far-right movement seized the misinformation campaign around Dutch nitrogen
policies.
The government was forced to take drastic measures following a ruling from the
Dutch High Court in 2019, which suspended the expansion of any nitrogen-emitting
projects. As agriculture is responsible for nearly half of nitrogen emissions,
livestock numbers would have to reduce by a third by 2030 to achieve this goal.
In 2022, the government therefore set out plans to buy out farms for €25
billion.
This initiative garnered significant backlash — with farmers protests raging
throughout the
country
— and resulted in the resignation of agriculture minister Henk Staghouwer
and the formation of the right-wing Farmer-Citizen
Movement,
which received the most seats at the 2023 provincial elections. It was also a
major driver of social media misinformation — mostly driven by conspiracy
theories arguing that the Dutch government was dispossessing farmers to create
space for asylum
seekers.
One Dutch politician that pushed these online conspiracies, Geert Wilders —
with his far-right Party for Freedom — won last year’s Dutch elections.
Although it is impossible to say whether online conspiracies led to this
election result, growing political polarisation is one factor involved and has
been exacerbated by social media misinformation.
Misinformation gaining wider ground with farmer protests
Since we launched our investigation, No Farmers No Food launched its own X
account — which gained 50,000 followers in just two weeks. This account is run
by James Melville, a right-wing anti-lock down campaigner and one of the
misinfluencers identified in our report in the Dutch case study. The No Farmers
No Food campaign is capitalising on farmers’ discontent and arguing that the
main culprits are climate and net-zero policies.
Reacting to German farmers protests, Melville said in an
interview
that governments’ draconian net-zero measures are making it “almost impossible
for farmers to make some sort of profit.” Other right-wing groups around Europe
have made efforts to align themselves with farmers, also by largely simplifying
their demands to the withdrawal of various climate and environmental policies —
which has resulted in many of these
policies
being dropped at the EU level, as well as in Germany and France.
In the UK, many right-wing politicians expressed support for No farmers No
Food, including Prime Minister Rishi
Sunak
— who joined a protest by Welsh farmers against the country’s reform of
agricultural subsidies. No farmers No Food is capitalising on farmers’
grievances and continues to firmly push conspiracy theories, illustrated by its
retweet of LBC host Maajid Nawaz’s X post
stating “Farmers stand between us and WEF’s desire for us to “eat bugs, own
nothing and be happy.”
Dangerous times for the future of climate action
Online misinformation can influence political decisions and shift public opinion
on crucial issues — even influencing election outcomes, as seen in cases such as
the Brexit referendum. For this reason, 2024 is a crucial year to address
these concerning trends as over half of the world’s population is heading to the
polls — 4 billion people across 76 countries. More people will vote than in any
previous year, including in major world economies such as the UK, Germany, the
US and India. Additionally, European elections will take place in June —
determining the future political direction of the largest economic bloc and the
most important regulator in the world.
Political direction for many governments will be determined in this year’s
elections — including to what extent they will base many of their policy
decisions on science vs populism, which is on the rise around the world. Many
mainstream political parties are moving more towards the extreme right in their
calculations to win the votes. Farmers protests are playing a key role in this
realignment, and it is extremely concerning that conspiracy theories play such a
big role in this process.
If we proceed in this direction, the future of climate action might be further
delayed and derailed when we are really running out of time. Politicians must
rebuild consensus around today’s most pressing issues — including business’s
role in climate change and public health — and base it on the science and facts.
Addressing overconsumption of meat and dairy
products
ticks both of these boxes and should be prioritised by governments around the
world.
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Published Apr 4, 2024 2pm EDT / 11am PDT / 7pm BST / 8pm CEST