Case study 2: The HEAT report – Harmful Environmental Agendas and Tactics in France, Germany, and the Netherlands 5/7

Amplification tactics

Social media platforms played a key role in spreading these narratives. Telegram, Facebook, and X (formerly Twitter) were the primary channels, often supported by fringe websites and influencers. Coordinated inauthentic behaviour, such as bot-like accounts and copy-paste content sharing, helped disinformation evade moderation and reach broader audiences.

While these tactics are not new, the report notes that climate disinformation benefits from a regulatory blind spot. The EU’s Digital Services Act (DSA), for example, does not explicitly address climate disinformation as a systemic risk, making enforcement more difficult and inconsistent.