Geoengineering and Climate Skepticism: A Digital Netnography of Conspiracy Narratives in the Italian Facebooksphere

Studying the detractors of climate science is crucial for understanding the dynamics and narratives that contribute to the spread of misinformation on a critical issue like climate change. This study is part of a broader research project focused on climate change skepticism within groups and pages in the Italian Facebooksphere. It centers on a specific sub-community opposed to geoengineering. Through a digital netnography spanning approximately three years, along with interviews with group administrators, content creators, and participant observation at various conferences, the research seeks to explore the narratives surrounding chemtrails and geoengineering and how these narratives fit within the broader context of climate denialism. Observations indicate that many Facebook pages (and some connected Telegram channels) tend to exclude more extreme conspiracy theories, such as those related to eugenics or mass mind control, instead focusing on raising concerns about the military applications of geoengineering and the lack of government transparency. Much of the circulating content adopts a pseudoscientific stance, with research studies and data presented in support. An interesting finding is that there is no outright denial of the existence of climate change itself; rather, in some cases, it is attributed to geoengineering experiments (HAARP, radio frequencies, directed energy weapons, chemtrails), while in others, global warming is linked to solar influences (solar storms, changes in Earth’s albedo, magnetic pole shifts). Geoengineering is viewed as a means to mitigate these overheating effects but is also blamed for causing extreme weather events. These varied positions contribute to generating informational confusion and manipulating public opinion on this critical issue.