Climate Change and Conspiracy: Networked Disinformation

Our planet is warming, our seas are rising, and while the human cost of this will be massive, the human cause of it is undeniable. Or at least, it should be. Rising sea levels and the desertification of already dry areas could see millions across our world being displaced. The climate crisis is a massive threat to quality of life, but for some people, it’s also an opportunity. Across Europe, the 2015 migrant crisis destabilized civil society, leading to the rise of the AfD in Germany, the Lega party in Italy, and allowed Viktor Orban to whip up anti-migrant rhetoric in Hungary. These conditions are a petri dish for conspiracy theorists, politicians, corporate interests, and especially, a boon for the rhetoric of extreme anti-migration factions pushing online disinformation.

This event is moderated by Data & Society founder danah boyd.

Recorded on December 4, 2019.

About the Speaker

Dr. Joe Mulhall is Senior Researcher at HOPE not hate, the UK’s largest anti-fascism and anti-racism organisation. He is a historian of postwar and contemporary fascism and completed his PhD at Royal Holloway, University of London. He sits on the Board of the UK Government funded Holocaust Memorial Day Trust. He has published extensively, both academically and journalistically, and appears regularly in the international news media and gives talks around the world about his research. He has two forthcoming academic books with Routledge in 2020 including The Alt-Right: Fascism for the 21st Century.

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