Science is under siege from weaponized disinformation – posing a threat to human civilization
‘The objective is to inundate the public with fossil fuel-friendly propaganda that undermines climate action or public health measures including vaccinations,’ write Michael Mann and Peter Hotez, the authors of Science Under Siege. Photo illustration via Getty Images
The Guardian
As two scientists who lived through Australia’s black summer bushfires and the Covid-19 crisis in the United States, we have seen firsthand how science in modern societies is under siege from an even more insidious “antiscience virus” of weaponized disinformation that undermines our ability to confront these crises.
There are five primary, interconnected forces behind the assault on science and reason. We call them the “five Ps”: the plutocrats, the petrostates, the pros (eg paid promoters of anti-science), the propagandists and – with important exceptions – the media. Together they have generated a perfect storm of antiscientific disinformation that now threatens humanity.
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