Climate Change and Related Environmental Events Misinformation on Social Media: a Scoping Review Protocol (Preprint)

BACKGROUND Climate change and related environmental events represents major global challenges and are often accompanied by the spread of misinformation on social media platforms. According to previous studies and reviews, the diffusion of this misinformation on various social media platforms requires deeper exploration. Moreover, findings were mainly reported according to American contexts, limiting the possibility to extend results to other settings. OBJECTIVE The purpose of this scoping review protocol is to assess the current state of knowledge about climate change and related environmental events misinformation circulating on social media. More specifically, we will explore the actual themes, actors and sources, as well as the Canadian context of diffusion of this misinformation. METHODS Assisted by a specialized librarian, we have iteratively identified keywords and developed search strategies for three selected bibliographic databases: MEDLINE (Ovid), Embase (Ovid), and Web of Science. To complement the bibliographic search, we will conduct an overview of grey literature using Google and pertinent websites. Two members of our research team will use the web-based review software Covidence to independently sort the found publications in order to exclude or include them in the review according to our defined criteria. Data will be extracted from the included publications to chart, among others, the years of publication, geographic areas, theme(s), actor(s) and source(s) of climate change-related misinformation studied and conclusions reported. The research team will then synthesize the extracted data to articulate the current state of knowledge in relation to our research inquiries, thereby achieving our objectives. RESULTS This protocol will enable us to identify the current themes, actors and sources of misinformation regarding climate change and related environmental events on social media, including the latest social media platforms, and to identify a potential Canadian context. CONCLUSIONS By developing this scoping review protocol, we aim to review the current state of knowledge and local context regarding misinformation about climate change and related environmental events disseminated on social media. As misinformation is known to undermine actions and public support in the fight against climate change, we intend to facilitate the targeting of efforts to combat misinformation related to climate change in an updated and contextualized manner.