‘Climate Denial’ With Funding From Big Companies, YouTube Has Been Promoting Climate Misinformation

A recent study revealed that YouTube is “actively promoting” climate misinformation on its platform, which some of the biggest companies and environmental groups in the world are funding by advertising on the videos.

The study claims that "YouTube is driving millions of people to watch climate misinformation videos every day." 

According to the study, there are built-in mechanisms that determine what most users watch on YouTube. This means that misinformation videos aren't only being watched by users who search for such content, but researchers report that the sites recommendation algorithm also promotes the videos, showing them to users who wouldn’t encounter them otherwise. 

Researchers found that when users typed in “global warming,” 16 percent of the top 100 related videos featured disinformation about climate change. The percentage of disinformation when typing in “climate change” was 8 percent, and 21 percent when typing in “climate manipulation.”

The findings add to data that shows disinformation accounts for over 20 percent of views for YouTube videos relating to climate change. 

Alongside the promotion and monetization of climate disinformation videos, the study found that some of the world’s largest companies, including Samsung, L’Oreal and Uber, have advertisements running on disinformation videos.

It also revealed that prominent environmental groups like Greenpeace International and the World Wildlife Fund advertise on the same videos. 

In a statement released after the publication of the study, YouTube said: “We can’t speak to Avaaz’s methodology or results, and our recommendations systems are not designed to filter or demote videos or channels based on specific perspectives. YouTube has strict ad policies that govern where ads are allowed to appear, and we give advertisers tools to opt-out of content that doesn’t align with their brand. We’ve also significantly invested in reducing recommendations of borderline content and harmful misinformation, and raising up authoritative voices on YouTube.”