Google and YouTube have pledged to curb the presence of online climate change deniers by cutting them off from displaying advertisements and monetizing content.
This two pronged approach will manifest itself across both platforms and their respective algorithms. Google, a sister site to YouTube as both are owned by Alphabet, is going to double down on climate change misinformation found in the likes of Google ads and their relevant AdSense accounts. YouTube's strategy will apply itself to both general content on the platform, coupled by ensuring that misinformation propagating users are quickly ushered out of the YouTube Partner Program. Moves such as these will put a dead stop into the tracks of individuals looking to cause active harm to the good work being done to combat climate change, all in the name of being contrarian.
In general, being contrarian seems to be a common arguing point for many such campaigns (the anti vaccination movement is a big example). The notion that simply because a large authority has informed you of a series of facts, they must be incorrect and disproven in the misguided search for a bigger meaning. It's the bravado of the persecuted scientist that the moon landing deniers, flat earthers, 9/11 truthers, COVID deniers, and all other associated parties operate under. Tangible facts and figures can be ignored under such a pretense, since they could be faked or hoaxed. The problem with such people and their movements is that any and all forms of evidence will only help further cement their bias. You simply can't win.
Climate change, however, will not wait for these individuals to come to their senses. It will not wait for millionaire oil tycoons and fossil fuel barons to realize the error of their ways. Climate change will slowly, yet very steadily, whittle away at our lives until the planet becomes uninhabitable for humans. To paraphrase Dr. Ian Malcolm from the famous Jurassic Park novel, the planet will live on without us. Any and all movement to preserve the current climate only serves one party at hand- us humans. And we're better act fast, because California can only take so many forest fires before burning out like a candle.
YouTube and Google have contributed to countering misinformation before as well, with a majority of this being displayed throughout the quarantine period. COVID vaccine deniers had their continent's reach restricted, and in extreme cases accounts were banned.
Creator: ROBYN BECK / AFP via Getty Images
Read next: Google Incorporates Sustainable Options into All Its Major Properties
This two pronged approach will manifest itself across both platforms and their respective algorithms. Google, a sister site to YouTube as both are owned by Alphabet, is going to double down on climate change misinformation found in the likes of Google ads and their relevant AdSense accounts. YouTube's strategy will apply itself to both general content on the platform, coupled by ensuring that misinformation propagating users are quickly ushered out of the YouTube Partner Program. Moves such as these will put a dead stop into the tracks of individuals looking to cause active harm to the good work being done to combat climate change, all in the name of being contrarian.
In general, being contrarian seems to be a common arguing point for many such campaigns (the anti vaccination movement is a big example). The notion that simply because a large authority has informed you of a series of facts, they must be incorrect and disproven in the misguided search for a bigger meaning. It's the bravado of the persecuted scientist that the moon landing deniers, flat earthers, 9/11 truthers, COVID deniers, and all other associated parties operate under. Tangible facts and figures can be ignored under such a pretense, since they could be faked or hoaxed. The problem with such people and their movements is that any and all forms of evidence will only help further cement their bias. You simply can't win.
Climate change, however, will not wait for these individuals to come to their senses. It will not wait for millionaire oil tycoons and fossil fuel barons to realize the error of their ways. Climate change will slowly, yet very steadily, whittle away at our lives until the planet becomes uninhabitable for humans. To paraphrase Dr. Ian Malcolm from the famous Jurassic Park novel, the planet will live on without us. Any and all movement to preserve the current climate only serves one party at hand- us humans. And we're better act fast, because California can only take so many forest fires before burning out like a candle.
YouTube and Google have contributed to countering misinformation before as well, with a majority of this being displayed throughout the quarantine period. COVID vaccine deniers had their continent's reach restricted, and in extreme cases accounts were banned.
Read next: Google Incorporates Sustainable Options into All Its Major Properties