Net Zero, Advertisers and the Threat to Free Speech

In this report, Donna Laframboise argues that the global advertising industry has become a powerful driver of online censorship in the Net Zero era.

As advertising spending has shifted overwhelmingly to the internet, brands and agencies now exert significant influence over social media platforms. Under the banner of “brand safety”, advertisers have pressed platforms to demonetise or remove content deemed to be climate “misinformation” - a category the report suggests is defined so broadly that it includes mainstream economic and policy criticism of Net Zero.

Drawing on industry initiatives, blacklists, and US congressional investigations, the report contends that corporate climate activism has merged with platform moderation practices, narrowing the space for open debate.

It concludes that when advertisers move from protecting their reputations to policing public discourse, free speech is put at risk.