How “Climate lockdowns” conspiracy theories target authorities undertaking climate action

During the Oxford controversy, these online narratives had consequences that affected the city’s daily life, with death threats being sent to Oxford local officials. Thousands also marched in the streets to protest, with placards repeating online claims.

Fact-checkers addressed “climate lockdowns” claims in Europe

Thousands of social media posts claiming that Oxford was planning a “Climate lockdown” by 2024 appeared all over Europe. In Croatia, Germany, France, and Poland, fact-checkers noticed posts misleading users by showing incomplete quotes and false information on decisions taken by Oxford local authorities.

Fact-checkers explained that while it is true that Oxford City Council and Oxfordshire County Council recently enacted measures, only one of them mentions 2024, and none can be labeled a “lockdown”. In reality, the 2024 measure was Oxfordshire County Council’s decision to install traffic filters on 6 roads in order to limit traffic congestion at peak hour.

Disinformation spreaders claimed the County Council planned to confine and control residents. To counter this claim, fact-checkers provided readers with evidence from the County Council’s website, indicating that its goal was primarily to reduce traffic jams, speed up bus journeys, and make walking and cycling safer.

Some social media posts propagated the idea that Oxford residents wouldn’t be able to move freely, and would be fined if they cross the city because of traffic filters. Fact-checkers at Agence France Presse, Deutsche Presse-Agentur, and Delfi provided evidence that traffic filters are only cameras able to read car plates. If residents pass through it at certain times of the day, they will receive a fine by mail. So Oxford residents won’t be prevented from traveling to any particular destination. During traffic filters’ operating hours, private cars might have to take a different route, but the city would still be accessible by car.

The second measure taken by the Oxford City Council that sparked disinformation on social media was a proposal to aim for “15-minute neighborhoods” in its 2040 agenda. Fact-checkers pointed out that this is different from the traffic filter measure and that it is only a proposal. Fact-checkers at Deutsche Welle, Verificat, Factual, and Maldita addressed claims that this proposal would confine residents within 6 districts, and control their daily lives.

In reality, the concept doesn’t include any restrictive boundary between each neighborhood. So there are no physical or theoretical barriers, nor limits for travels taking more than 15 minutes. The main objective, explained by Oxford authorities in a public statement, is to improve amenities in order to reduce long unnecessary travel. Fact-checkers gathered first-hand information interviewing law professors, urbanism experts, and Oxford authorities, who confirmed that the claims were misleading.

“No government, whatever the political color, can compel citizens not to leave or enter any part of the national territory [in Spain],” Ignacio Álvarez Rodríguez, an expert on constitutional law and professor at Complutense University of Madrid, told Verificat.

More similar claims later appeared, such as that the 15-minute city includes limits and sanctions related to residents’ purchases of meat and dairy products. That claim was based on a video of a Walmart shop with cameras, allegedly monitoring customers’ dairy and meat purchases. In Ireland, fact-checkers from The Journal explained that the video featured in the claims actually shows the monitoring of product stock level on shelves, and that the 15-minute city concept has nothing to do with monitoring or limiting what people purchase.

Simultaneously, claims that the European Union (EU) would be planning Climate lockdowns also spread in Spain, prompting fact-checkers at Maldita to investigate. A media outlet’s Twitter account, called ‘El Puntual 24H’, claimed that the EU already considered “Climate lockdowns” as a sanction for member states that exceed pollution targets, arguing that there is evidence in a 2018 sanction from the EU’s Court of Justice.

However, Maldita examined the sanction and found that it was unrelated to climate lockdowns. Advanced searches turned up no EU decisions corresponding to the claims. In fact, the EU never considered applying “Climate lockdowns”, as confirmed by the EU Commission to Maldita.

Social media dynamics related to the “Climate lockdowns” surge

To understand how the narrative propagated in Europe, we analyzed posts and videos from Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube mentioning keywords related to this narrative in different languages.