Google and YouTube have toughened their regulations, Thursday, October 8, against ads and content that deny global warming and its causes.
The number one digital advertising company and its video service now ban ads and monetization of content that “Contradict the well-established scientific consensus around the existence and causes of climate change”, indicates an update of the rules for advertisers.
The platform therefore not only prohibits deceptive or deceptive ads, it also prevents climate-skeptic content creators from collecting advertising revenue.
“Advertisers just don’t want their ads to appear alongside this kind of content. And publishers and creators don’t want ads that make these claims on their pages or videos ”, justifies Google.
The regulation applies to messages that define climate change as a fabrication or a scam, those that deny that the climate is warming in the long term or that greenhouse gas emissions and human activity contribute to this reality.
YouTube accused in the past
The Californian group is already restricting advertising backed by certain sensitive topics, such as videos on guns or tragic events. YouTube had also recently taken steps to limit the proliferation of anti-vaccine videos. But the negation of climate change was not part of the content targeted so far.
His neighbor Facebook, which is right behind him in the online advertising market, regularly communicates on his efforts to curb climate misinformation, but has no such ban in place on the subject.
The social media giant, which repeats over and over again that it does not want to become an arbiter of the truth, favors the highlighting of indisputable scientific facts via a section devoted to the environment.
Platforms are regularly accused of favoring content that elicits strong emotional reactions, to generate more traffic to be converted into advertising revenue.
In January 2020, an American NGO, Avaaz, accused YouTube of directing millions of users to videos denying climate change. The platform then replied that it was doing its utmost to reduce the number of problematic content, while specifying that it would not censor those who did not violate its rules.
YouTube reached 2 billion monthly viewers worldwide this summer, or 64% of the audience for online videos, according to eMarketer.