Climate Disinformation on TikTok in Brazil: Science and Epistemic Authorities in Conflict
Record highs in the Earth’s average temperature and the recurrent occurrence of extreme events have made climate change a central focus of international organisations’ and governments’ agendas worldwide. The epistemic crisis in science, together with the rise of individual belief systems, raises con...
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| Gepubliceerd in: | URI:https://journals.openedition.org/cs, |
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| Formaat: | Article ou chapitre numérique |
| Taal: | Anglais |
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Comunicação e sociedade
2026
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| Online toegang: | Accès Université d'Orléans et IFPM |
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openedition-oai:revues.org:cs_16894 |
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openedition-oai:revues.org:cs_16894 en https://journals.openedition.org/cs/16894 2026-01-07T01:00:00Z info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess article info:eu-repo/semantics/article urn:handle:20.500.13089/15gt0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Climate Disinformation on TikTok in Brazil: Science and Epistemic Authorities in Conflict Comunicação e sociedade Centro de estudos de comunicação e sociedade info:eu-repo/semantics/reference/issn/2183-3575 info:eu-repo/semantics/reference/issn/1645-2089 URI:https://journals.openedition.org/cs Noia, Julia Massarani, Luisa Cruz, Luana Medeiros, Amanda Fagundes, Vanessa Neves, Luiz Felipe redes sociais plataformas desinformação climática TikTok social networks platforms climate disinformation TikTok Record highs in the Earth’s average temperature and the recurrent occurrence of extreme events have made climate change a central focus of international organisations’ and governments’ agendas worldwide. The epistemic crisis in science, together with the rise of individual belief systems, raises concerns about the spread of climate disinformation, particularly in a context where social networking platforms increasingly mediate everyday life. This article analyses the meanings conveyed in disinformation-based content about climate change published on TikTok to identify which actors, technical resources, and discursive strategies are mobilised to reinforce narratives on the topic. To this end, methodological procedures drawn from content analysis are employed to examine disinformation-based material randomly selected on TikTok using the keywords “climate change”, “climate changes” and “global warming”. A total of 207 videos were analysed. The results indicate a high percentage (71%) of cropped or decontextualised materials on TikTok that rely on scientific or journalistic arguments to disseminate factoids about climate change. Paradoxically, the main vectors of disinformation are science professionals or journalists (34%), whose scientific capital is mobilised in videos to disinform, whether intentionally or unintentionally, by the protagonist. These results thus suggest that science is being instrumentalised and scientists are being mobilised to promote an informational disorder based on exaggerations about climate change and its consequences, requiring equally complex collective actions to mitigate these effects. Os recordes na temperatura média da Terra e a reincidência de eventos extremos tornaram as mudanças climáticas agenda central de organizações internacionais e governos de todo o mundo. A crise epistêmica da ciência, em paralelo com o avanço de sistemas de crenças individuais, acende um alerta sobre a propagação de desinformação climática, sobretudo com a midiatização do cotidiano em plataformas de redes sociais. Neste artigo, analisamos os sentidos circulados em conteúdos desinformativos sobre mudanças climáticas publicados no TikTok, para identificar quais atores, recursos técnicos e estratégias discursivas foram mobilizados para reforçar narrativas acerca do tema. Com esta finalidade, recorremos a procedimentos metodológicos vindos da análise de conteúdo para examinar materiais desinformativos selecionados randomicamente no TikTok a partir das palavras-chave “mudança climática”, “mudanças climáticas” e “aquecimento global”. Foram analisados 207 vídeos. Nossos resultados evidenciam um percentual alto (71%) de materiais recortados ou descontextualizados no TikTok que recorrem a argumentos científicos ou jornalísticos para propagar factoides sobre as mudanças climáticas. Contraditoriamente, os principais vetores da desinformação são profissionais da ciência ou jornalistas (34%), cujo capital científico é mobilizado em vídeos para desinformar, com ou sem intencionalidade do protagonista. Assim, os resultados apontam que há instrumentalização da ciência e mobilização de cientistas para promover uma desordem informacional baseada em exageros quanto às mudanças climáticas e seus desdobramentos, demandando ações coletivas igualmente complexas para mitigar tais efeitos. |
| collection |
OpenEdition Journal |
| language |
Anglais |
| format |
Article ou chapitre numérique |
| building |
0/Bibliothèque numérique/ 1/Bibliothèque numérique/OpenEdition Journals/ |
| topic |
redes sociais plataformas desinformação climática TikTok social networks platforms climate disinformation TikTok |
| spellingShingle |
redes sociais plataformas desinformação climática TikTok social networks platforms climate disinformation TikTok Noia, Julia Massarani, Luisa Cruz, Luana Medeiros, Amanda Fagundes, Vanessa Neves, Luiz Felipe Climate Disinformation on TikTok in Brazil: Science and Epistemic Authorities in Conflict |
| description |
Record highs in the Earth’s average temperature and the recurrent occurrence of extreme events have made climate change a central focus of international organisations’ and governments’ agendas worldwide. The epistemic crisis in science, together with the rise of individual belief systems, raises concerns about the spread of climate disinformation, particularly in a context where social networking platforms increasingly mediate everyday life. This article analyses the meanings conveyed in disinformation-based content about climate change published on TikTok to identify which actors, technical resources, and discursive strategies are mobilised to reinforce narratives on the topic. To this end, methodological procedures drawn from content analysis are employed to examine disinformation-based material randomly selected on TikTok using the keywords “climate change”, “climate changes” and “global warming”. A total of 207 videos were analysed. The results indicate a high percentage (71%) of cropped or decontextualised materials on TikTok that rely on scientific or journalistic arguments to disseminate factoids about climate change. Paradoxically, the main vectors of disinformation are science professionals or journalists (34%), whose scientific capital is mobilised in videos to disinform, whether intentionally or unintentionally, by the protagonist. These results thus suggest that science is being instrumentalised and scientists are being mobilised to promote an informational disorder based on exaggerations about climate change and its consequences, requiring equally complex collective actions to mitigate these effects. |
| author |
Noia, Julia Massarani, Luisa Cruz, Luana Medeiros, Amanda Fagundes, Vanessa Neves, Luiz Felipe |
| author_facet |
Noia, Julia Massarani, Luisa Cruz, Luana Medeiros, Amanda Fagundes, Vanessa Neves, Luiz Felipe |
| author_sort |
Noia, Julia |
| title |
Climate Disinformation on TikTok in Brazil: Science and Epistemic Authorities in Conflict |
| title_short |
Climate Disinformation on TikTok in Brazil: Science and Epistemic Authorities in Conflict |
| title_full |
Climate Disinformation on TikTok in Brazil: Science and Epistemic Authorities in Conflict |
| title_fullStr |
Climate Disinformation on TikTok in Brazil: Science and Epistemic Authorities in Conflict |
| title_full_unstemmed |
Climate Disinformation on TikTok in Brazil: Science and Epistemic Authorities in Conflict |
| title_sort |
climate disinformation on tiktok in brazil: science and epistemic authorities in conflict |
| publisher |
Comunicação e sociedade |
| publishDate |
2026 |
| container_title |
URI:https://journals.openedition.org/cs |
| url |
https://ezproxy.univ-orleans.fr/login?url=https://journals.openedition.org/cs/16894 |
| _version_ |
1877291822332510208 |