On YouTube, climate denialism takes a turn
The voices that deny climate change have settled on a new refrain.
Instead of rejecting the fact that the Earth is warming, they’re now focusing on skepticism of climate solutions, as well as scientists and
activists and altogether the idea that climate change will cause harm, according to a new report from the Center for Countering Digital Hate, a
nonprofit organization that researches digital hate speech and misinformation.
The organization’s analysis suggests that the outright dismissal of climate change is no longer as convincing an argument, so climate skeptics are
shifting the ideological fight to how seriously humanity must take climate change or what ought to be done about it. The report also claims that the
content policies of YouTube’s parent company, Google — which are supposed to block advertising money from content that rejects the scientific
consensus about the existence and causes of climate change — are ineffective and ought to be updated.
“A new front has opened up in this battle,” Imran Ahmed, the organization’s CEO, said at a news conference. “They’ve gone from saying
climate change isn’t happening to now saying: ‘Hey, climate change is happening, but there is no hope. There are no solutions.’”
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