Can better digital literacy reduce climate denialism and disaster conspiracy theories?

In recent years, the proliferation of disaster conspiracy theories has been a big problem. Last year, misinformation and disinformation about Hurricane Helene and Hurricane Milton started to spread on social media at a great pace.

Many people online falsely claimed that the aforementioned disasters are “geo-engineered” and deliberately targeted at predominantly Republican regions in the US. Such falsehoods hindered relief operations and triggered confusion and toxicity on social media.

These kinds of conspiracy theories are fueling climate denialism. They are becoming an increasingly bigger problem these days as the brutal climate crisis intensifies, triggering natural disasters such as storms and floods.