by Ailan Evans
Google and YouTube announced a new policy Thursday demonetizing all content that denies the scientific consensus on climate change.
Google will no longer allow ads for “content that contradicts well-established scientific consensus around the existence and causes of climate change,” the company announced in a support page added to its website Thursday. The policy, which Google will start enforcing next month, covers YouTube videos and websites that treat climate change as a “hoax or a scam,” content “denying that long-term trends show the global climate is warming” and content “denying that greenhouse gas emissions or human activity contribute to climate change.”
The search giant said it was implementing the policy due to pressure from advertisers, who didn’t want their products associated with content promoting climate denial.
“Advertisers simply don’t want their ads to appear next to this content,” the company said. “And publishers and creators don’t want ads promoting these claims to appear on their pages or videos.”
Google did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s questions concerning the scope of the new policy.
The tech giant said it formulated the policy after consultation with “authoritative sources on the topic of climate science including experts who have contributed to the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.” Google said it will employ algorithms and human moderators to detect and demonetize content that goes against the scientific consensus on climate change.
The announcement follows the unveiling of a new YouTube policy last week to remove content that denies the safety and efficacy of vaccines approved by the World Health Organization.
Google announced a series of climate initiatives Wednesday designed to offer consumers more “sustainable” choices, including adding panels in climate-related search results featuring information on climate change provided by the United Nations.
– – –
Ailan Evans is a reporter at Daily Caller News Foundation.
