Combating Rumors and Misinformation

The Canary Islands Government Supports Responsible Journalism Against Climate‑Change Hoaxes

The Government of the Canary Islands, through Islas Responsables Lab (IRLab), organized a day‑long event where experts, scientists, journalists and social‑media communicators debated hoaxes and climate change, and discussed how to detect and counter messages that aim to misinform the public.

The meeting was opened by the Vice‑Counselor for Communication, Jonathan Domínguez, who warned that misinformation and hoaxes “are a tool that, increasingly, erodes public trust, divides society and contaminates decision‑making.” He added that this situation “forces us to reflect” because we live in times where “scientific evidence is questioned almost daily and research based on the scientific method no longer seems sufficient.”

Domínguez argued that the constant questioning of scientific evidence opens the door to the worrying phenomenon of misinformation. For that reason, he called the practice of true journalism and the defence of freedom of information “essential in times of noise.” He stressed that “this is not about ideologies. This issue should stop being a political tool. Denying reality does not help combat climate change.” The Canary Islands, a territory especially vulnerable and far from the European continent, are already feeling the impacts of climate change.

“The formula is simple: faced with noise, we need more science. Faced with fear, more rigorous information. And faced with manipulation, more critical thinking.”

Domínguez concluded that misinformation about climate change demands institutional responsibility, cooperation, and a well‑informed citizenry.

Work Session

IRLab gathered experts, scientists, communicators and journalists at the Presidency building in Santa Cruz de Tenerife to analyse how hoaxes are created, spread and combated—messages that are often intentional and designed to generate confusion and dangerous misinformation about climate change.

Common hoaxes such as “climate change does not exist,” “the 2030 Agenda serves hidden interests,” or “sea‑level rise is natural” must be countered with data without opinion, relying on scientific sources, according to the participants.

The opening conference was delivered by Rocío Benavente, journalist at Maldita.es. She highlighted that misinformation “has become a perfect weapon to try to dismantle the social consensus that for decades has laid the foundations of democratic coexistence, including citizen trust in science and its results.”

“Misinformation not only undermines democratic coexistence, but also puts at risk the life, safety and health of citizens.”

Benavente traced the evolution of climate‑change misinformation, identified the most frequent narratives, and explained why the Canary Islands—due to a mix of geographic and socio‑economic factors—are a hotspot for this phenomenon.

The agenda focused on the media’s role in confronting hoaxes. Two round‑tables examined how ideology feeds on hoaxes for political gain:

• “Climate Change, Ideology and Power: When Hoaxes Become a Political Tool”
• “Communicating in Times of Hoaxes: Tools to Defend the Truth”

The experts concluded that hoaxes have intentionality—whether economic, political, or otherwise—to manipulate the public and must be countered with media literacy and rigor. They also stressed the need to analyse the social and economic repercussions of climate change for citizens and highlighted the importance of governance in managing its impacts.

Technical Session

A technical session held in March (the second day was postponed due to Storm Therese) brought together about thirty specialists who examined how hoaxes spread and how to combat climate‑change misinformation so that citizens can access truthful content. The participants agreed that science and media must work hand‑in hand to tackle misinformation.

Key conclusions included:

• Rely on official sources (research institutes, universities, reputable media) to verify information.
• Deliver content that is concise, rigorous, clear and uses accessible language.
• Tailor formats to the specific audience segments and avoid alarmist messages that may generate fear.

The session also called for the creation of collaborative governance spaces that educate and empower audiences through participatory processes, making them active participants in the solution to climate‑change misinformation. Emphasis was placed on identifying the origin of information, promoting verifiable content, and minimizing the spread of anonymous messages on social networks.