A recent report revealed that Google-owned YouTube earns millions of dollars a year from advertisements on channels that spread false information about climate change.
Content creators and social media platforms are using new tactics to bypass the platform’s policies and contribute to spreading misinformation.
The report published by The Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH) used AI technology to review 12,058 videos from the past six years on 96 YouTube channels.
It was concluded that these channels frequently contributed to misinformation and misleading talks about climate change and its effects.
Many of the videos made claims that largely fell under the five broad categories mentioned below:
- Global warming isn’t happening.
- Greenhouse gases produced by humans are not responsible for global warming.
- The effects of global warming are positive or insignificant.
- Proposed climate solutions are ineffective.
- Climate science and the climate movement lack credibility.
“A new front has opened up in this battle,” Imran Ahmed, chief executive of CCDH, said on a call with reporters.
“The people that we’ve been looking at, they’ve gone from saying climate change isn’t happening to now saying, ‘Hey, climate change is happening but there is no hope. There are no solutions.'”
According to CCDH, YouTube is earning as much as $13.4 million annually from advertisements on the channels examined in the report.
The organization mentioned that the AI model was designed to differentiate between legitimate skepticism and disseminating false information.
“Debate or discussions of climate change topics, including around public policy or research, is allowed,” a YouTube spokesperson told Reuters.
“However, when content crosses the line to climate change denial, we stop showing ads on those videos.”
CCDH urged YouTube to revise its policy on content related to climate denial.