Google will block advertisements and monetization of YouTube videos and publisher content in an effort to reduce income for climate change deniers and to halt the propagation of misinformation on its platform, announced on Thursday October 7.
The ban, which takes effect in November, will target “content referring to climate change as a hoax or a scam, claims denying that long-term trends show the global climate is warming, and claims denying that greenhouse gas emissions or human activity contribute to climate change,” Google stated in a blog post.
The platforms will prohibit advertisements that encourage that type of content.
Moreover, Google intends to use a combination of automated systems and human reviewers to identify infringing publisher content, Google-served ads, and YouTube videos that earn advertising revenue through the YouTube Partner Program.
“When evaluating content against this new policy, we’ll look carefully at the context in which claims are made, differentiating between content that states a false claim as fact, versus content that reports on or discusses that claim,” Google wrote.
“We will also continue to allow ads and monetization on other climate-related topics, including public debates on climate policy, the varying impacts of climate change, new research and more,” the company added.
It also follows on from a recent United Nations panel report, which U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres described the move as a “code red for humanity.”
Furthermore, Google stated that in establishing the policy prohibiting advertisements containing climate-denial claims, it consulted “authoritative sources” on climate science, especially experts who contributed to the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Assessment Reports.
As of writing, YouTube will still allow distorted content about climate change on its platform but will demonetize videos or channels that promote hoaxes or conspiracy theories about the topic.
Source: https://support.google.com/google-ads/answer/11221321?hl=en, https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar6/wg1/
