AI-generated disinformation tactics spotted ahead of COP30

WASHINGTON: A clip said to show massive flooding in the Amazonian city hosting the UN climate summit is just one widely-shared example of how disinformation, cheaply created by artificial intelligence and circulating on social media, is influencing perceptions of COP30.A new report released Thursday by the Coalition Against Climate Disinformation (CAAD) finds despite increasing support for policies to address climate change, the persistence of online falsehoods, supercharged by AI, help sustain an undercurrent of hostility towards science.CAAD and the Observatory for Information Integrity (Oii) highlighted a 267 percent surge, or more than 14,000 examples, of COP-related disinformation from July to September.Several videos implied Belem would not be fit to host the key conference, but one was filmed in Tbilisi, Georgia, while another recycled footage from two years ago.And in the video showing the city purportedly under water, Oii said: “The reporter doesn’t exist, the people don’t exist, the flood doesn’t exist, and the city doesn’t exist.”TikTok has not removed the video – which does not disclose its use of AI – despite Oii researchers flagging it to the platform.This is reflective of a larger trend of AI-tainted climate content spread throughout 2025.Earlier this year, AFP investigated a document claimed to have been written by Elon Musk’s Grok 3 AI. It wrongfully dismissed the credibility of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s climate models.Information integrity lackingRecent research shows more than 80 percent of people want stronger climate action, and 69 percent say they would contribute one percent of their monthly income to support it.Yet, both United Nations Environment Assembly attendees and the general public vastly underestimate this willingness to mobilize.“This is the impact of climate disinformation,” CAAD said.“Big Carbon’s spending and Big Tech’s algorithms are preventing us from seeing and hearing one another online. Instead, we’re exposed to one lie after another.”The false narratives can also lead to intimidation of scientists and activists, Rio de Janeiro State University professor, Carlos Milani noted.“Climate denial in Brazil is pushed most explicitly by far-right figures, a small group of anti-environmentalist activists and ultra-conservative leaders,” he said.The United Nations and governments are beginning to respond to how disinformation spreads, researchers say.The European Union’s Digital Services Act, for instance, aims to increase transparency and accountability among platforms and advertisers.With information integrity for the first time placed in the UN agenda, “we’re finally headed in the right direction,” CAAD said.mja/mgs/sla