Trying to Stop Denial Online

by Daniel Bailey
(Michigan, United States)

The following is the verbiage I post on articles infested with deniers:

What I Post on Articles Filled With Deniers

Reddit’s science forum banned climate deniers.

So did the LA Times.

Even the Facebook pages for NASA Climate Change, NOAA Climate Change and Climate Central have moved to limit their gibberish. Why doesn’t this venue do the same?

There are many more websites and Facebook Pages that are taking action against climate change denial:

• Grist.org
• LA Times
• Slate.com
• Telegraph
• Climate Central Facebook Page
• NOAA Climate Gov Facebook Page
• NASA Climate Change Facebook Page

Reddit Bans Climate Change Denial

Reddit ...are not banning those who simply disagree or misunderstand, they are banning those who engage in denialism, which is a distinct set of criteria.

While the lion's share of denialists are abusive and uncivil, a polished denialist can provide citations (cherry picked) and has numerous tactics to turn appeals to intellectual rigor into a platform to broadcast their propaganda while shrouding it all in a cloak of polite concern.

It's an endless song and dance performed in such a way as to be seductive to both the curious uninformed who find it persuasive, and the educated who find it tempting to refute either from well meaning intentions or furious annoyance.

Almost any reply to a skilled denier only serves to facilitate the agenda. There is really nothing knee-jerk about excluding them from actual debate. It's a choice that comes after being duped and manipulated to the point of intolerance.

Final Word

If you haven't studied the science of climate change and yet dispute it, based on... nothing at all (disagreeing with the "consensus" because you don't like the implications for your lifestyle is NOT a reason), then you do NOT deserve a voice to be heard on the subject.

Period.