Climate change is real.
And while one can still deny that reality in their YouTube content, they won’t be able to monetize or run advertisements for it.
On Thursday, YouTube updated its ads and monetization policies to prohibit the monetization of climate denialism content. The policy covers content that claims climate change is a hoax or a scam. Creators will also be unable to monetize content that denies that the global climate is warming or that humans contribute to climate change.
Advertisements for this type of content are now also prohibited on YouTube.
YouTube says the policy decision was simple: Advertisers and creators do not want to be associated with climate denialism.
“In recent years, we’ve heard directly from a growing number of our advertising and publisher partners who have expressed concerns about ads that run alongside or promote inaccurate claims about climate change,” said YouTube in its policy update notice. “Advertisers simply don’t want their ads to appear next to this content. And publishers and creators don’t want ads promoting these claims to appear on their pages or videos.”
According to YouTube, the company consulted with climate science experts who have contributed to United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change assessment reports in order to form the policy.
The Google-owned video platform says it will consider context for videos that cover climate denialism, such as a news report. The company will continue to allow ads and monetization on climate policy debates, the impacts of climate change, and new research around the topic. The policy will be enforced with a combination of human review and the platform’s automated systems.
YouTube has long been criticized for allowing misinformation on its platform. For example, its recommendation engine can send users down a rabbit hole of conspiracy theories and extremist content.
The company has made changes over time to deal with flat earth conspiracy and 9/11 truther content. In the past year, YouTube has banned conspiracies about the results of the 2020 presidential election and anti-vaxxer misinformation.
The new policy on climate denial goes into effect next month.
