Colonial Logics in the Mobilization Mechanics of Climate Disinformation

Climate disinformation is not an incidental byproduct of the digital age but the latest expression of colonial logics of mediated authority. This study argues that the mechanics through which climate denial and distortion circulate across the Global South cannot be understood apart from the infrastructures of British indirect rule, which historically governed ‘through’ intermediaries rather than ‘over’ subjects. Drawing on the Model of Indirect Epistemic Domination, the research demonstrates how recruitment, localization, deflection, normalization, and exploitation, once deployed to entrench imperial power, are today reactivated in digital and spiritual ecosystems, where religious, cultural, and viral social influencers legitimize climate falsehoods as indigenous truths. The study analyzes 200 purposively sampled disinformation posts from Facebook, X, and YouTube across eleven African states (January–June 2025) alongside structural indices of religiosity, trust in science, education, and media access. Multi-scalar analysis reveals that religiosity strongly amplifies susceptibility (r ≈ 0.83), while media access functions as a double-edged vector, broadening reach but intensifying exposure. Regression modeling confirms that susceptibility is not merely informational but structurally conditioned, with colonial residues shaping epistemic ecologies. By revealing the genealogical continuity between colonial governance and climate disinformation, the study reframes the crisis as both epistemological and environmental, calling for climate communication strategies that confront inherited structures of authority, epistemic power, and belief.