Climate change misinformation on YouTube has morphed into a misleading new narrative, according to a report published today. As compounding disasters make it harder to deny that climate change is happening, creators spreading misinformation have turned to content focused on clean energy.
In the past, content that falsely claimed that climate change was not happening or was not a result of humans burning fossil fuels dominated misinformation channels. That is no longer the case, according to an analysis by the nonprofit Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH). Instead, the most common lies about climate change now involve denying the benefits of clean energy, attacking policies aimed at reducing planet-warming fossil fuel pollution, and smearing the scientists and advocates who push for it. change.
This type of “new denial” accounted for 70 percent of climate denial content on YouTube in 2023, according to the report, compared to 35 percent in 2018. It largely focuses on misleading messages that “the solutions climate change won't work,” that the science behind those solutions is unreliable, or that global warming is not really harmful.
This type of “new denial” accounted for 70 percent of climate denial content on YouTube in 2023.
there is overwhelming evidence that greenhouse gas emissions from fossil fuels are causing climate change, that those emissions are exacerbating deadly climate disasters, and that the transition to clean energy is the only way to address the problem at scale.
In a case study, researchers point to an increase in this type of content from Canadian expert Jordan Peterson in recent years. “The idea that we can make the planet more habitable from an environmental point of view, by impoverishing the poor, by increasing energy and food prices, is absolutely, not only logically absurd, but I think it amounts to a genocide.” Peterson says in a YouTube video that his channel posted in 2022.
Peterson did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The edge. Climate change is expected to cause an additional 250,000 deaths each year in the coming decades as it increases the risks of heat stress, malaria, malnutrition and diarrhea. according to the World Health Organization. Fortunately, renewable energies are already a cheaper alternative to fossil fuel power plants and can help prevent deaths related to the effects of climate change.
Google's policies on misinformation need to catch up with new trends in climate misinformation, the report's authors say. They discovered that the company was running ads for that type of content, even though it has a policy which “prohibits advertising and monetization of content that contradicts the well-established scientific consensus on the existence and causes of climate change.”
“It is hypocritical for social media companies to say they are green but then monetize and amplify lies about the climate,” CCDH CEO and founder Imran Ahmed said in a press release. “It's time for digital platforms to put their money where their mouth is. “They should refuse to amplify or monetize cynical climate denial content that undermines faith in our collective ability to solve humanity’s most pressing challenge.”
Citing the existing one from Google climate change policyGoogle spokesman Nate Funkhouser said in an email that “debate or discussions on climate change issues are permitted, including around public policy or research. However, when content crosses the line of climate change denial, we stop showing ads on those videos.” The company said it removed ads from some of the videos mentioned in the report for violating its policy, but that most of the videos mentioned were in compliance.
To conduct their analysis, the CCDH reviewed 4,458 hours of video transcripts from 96 YouTube channels between 2018 and 2023. They used an artificial intelligence tool called CARDS to classify different types of false claims about climate change and the frequency with which they occurred. .
New climate denial tactics may have already impressed young YouTube viewers. In a survey of more than 1,000 U.S. teens ages 13 to 17 conducted this month by market research firm Survation for CCDH, a third of teens said “climate policies cause more harm than good.”
“Platforms like YouTube have billions of users and a monopoly on young people's attention,” Michael Khoo, director of the climate misinformation program at the nonprofit Friends of the Earth, said in a statement. “Social media companies must stop amplifying and profiting from climate denial that threatens action on the most pressing crisis in human history.”
