Climate Power Launches New Campaign To Counter Climate Disinformation Targeting Latinos

Washington, D.C. — As we continue honoring and celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month, Climate Power is launching an innovative campaign focused on countering climate misinformation and disinformation targeting Latinos in the United States. Based on bilingual polling, the program features Spanish and English ads in key Latino markets, and is part of a growing effort to help understand the most effective strategies to address the dis/misinformation crisis communities face online. 

Misinformation, which is spread unintentionally and disinformation, which is intended to provide false, misleading or harmful information, are targeting Latinos aggressively in the United States, creating social, health, civic, and economic consequences. Over 60 million Latinos live in the United States, and the majority receive their news online, where disinformation in Spanish targeting Latinos is growing tremendously on a daily basis. The lack of oversight—especially lack of Spanish language content moderation on popular platforms like Facebook, WhatsApp—has worsened the problem. 

Climate-related disinformation targeting Latinos plays a role in the larger landscape, where disinformation messages are framed to question whether climate change is manmade, and falsely warn of job loss and higher costs, along with increased government control.

Today, Climate Power is launching its ad titled “Invest in Their Future” or “Una Inversión en su Futuro” in Arizona, New Mexico and Nevada, where we are raising awareness of the economic and health  benefits of combating climate change. The ads will be shown to Latinos who believe that climate change is a problem but are on the fence about government action to combat it, on platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and Youtube, as well as Spanish language media partners El Planeta and Canela Media. 

In addition to the ad campaign, Climate Power is working directly with national Latino media to develop content. The campaign is anchored on native and social tactics, promoting news articles highlighting the truth about the impacts of investing in clean energy and combating fake news. 

Spanish and English disinformation targeting Latinos is a clear effort to minimize the influence of the 2nd largest community in the US  and the second fastest growing voting bloc in the country. Working to counter this growing threat is key to ensuring information integrity.