Exploring the Network and Topic Stability in Climate Change Deniers’ Disinformation Network: A Longitudinal Study

Abstract

This study examines the stability and evolution of network structure and discussion topics among a group of prominent climate change deniers. Focusing on social-mediated information-sharing networks, the research addresses two key questions: 1) How stable is the information-sharing network among climate change deniers? And 2) do climate change deniers' topic strategies change over time? Using social network analysis, and deep-learning-based natural language models, the study analyzes the stability and structure of climate change deniers’ disinformation discourse over a decade. The findings reveal that while the climate change denial network remains stable in terms of size and core group composition, sub-groups continuously emerge and dissolve. Deniers consistently utilized certain topics over the decade. Practical and theoretical implications are also discussed.