False news that the EU will introduce a “carbon passport” and refuse to repair cars older than 15 years is abounding in social media ahead of the EU elections.
The far right, climate skeptics and conspiracy theorists spread fake climate news in social media to undermine the EU’s “Green deal”. So says Professor of Information and Communication Sciences Arnaud Mercier at the Pantheon-Assas University in Paris.
People who are already critical of climate policy or the EU are spreading this news “in good faith”, says Mercier to the AFP news agency.
Reveals disinformation
In recent months, the AFP fact-checkers have revealed a number of false or misleading news related to the EU’s climate strategy Green givewhich includes new climate legislation in a number of areas.
In Romania, a fake news that Brussels will soon introduce a “carbon passport” where each individual’s CO2 emissions will be measured, which could lead to restrictions on travel if one gets over a certain level, has been spread far and wide.
The far-right party AUR has pounced on the news.
– The EU seems to be moving towards becoming a kind of Soviet commissariat that imposes restrictions on us, says the party’s Gianina Serban, who encourages people to vote “patriotically” in the election on 9 June.
Mistakes about cars
Another fake news that has upset many voters is that Brussels has decided to ban the repair of cars over 15 years old.
The correct thing is that last year the EU revised the law on how scrap cars should be treated, in order to reduce the amount of harmful waste.
The EU also wants to phase out the sale of fossil-fuel cars by 2035 and replace them with electric cars to reduce emissions.
Also in our neighboring country Sweden, fake news about the EU’s controversial nature restoration law, which has not yet been adopted, has abounded. In social media, it is wrongly claimed that the law will ban farming in protected areas.
Russia active
Countries such as Russia are also trying to undermine the EU through fake climate news, according to researchers.
– The Kremlin is actively spreading misleading information related to the EU’s Green deal, says Martin Vladimirov, who heads the Center for Democracy Studies in Bulgaria’s capital Sofia. He refers, among other things, to propaganda about the dangers of wind power and wind turbines.
According to the website Euractiv, almost 400 websites have been created in Bulgaria to spread Russian propaganda and fake news.
