Google clamps down on climate change misinformation from creators, ads
What you need to know
- Google has announced an update to its monetization policy on advertisers and creators.
- The company will prohibit content that promotes false claims about climate change.
- The move comes just after Google announced a bevy of new features aimed at tackling climate change.
- The new policy will go into effect on December 6.
Google is going all-in on its efforts to fight climate change and the company's latest move takes a stab at ads and content that would otherwise challenge its efforts.
On Thursday, Google updated its content monetization policy in a bid to weed out ads and creators promoting climate change misinformation. Google says that starting this December, it will prohibit ads with "content that features claims about climate change which run contrary to scientific consensus."
In case you're curious about that consensus, it's that the Earth is warming and that human activity has been the primary contributor over the past century.
This means that ad companies will no longer be able to run ads that speak to the contrary, and creators will no longer be able to make money from this type of content.
Google says that it will evaluate content when this new policy goes into effect, to better distinguish between ads that promote misinformation and those that discuss false claims.
The move isn't unlike the recent decision to ban vaccine misinformation from YouTube, although the company is likely to face backlash over content moderation.
The new ad policy will go into effect on December 6.
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Derrek is a long-time Nokia and LG fanboy who loves astronomy, videography, and sci-fi movies. When he's not working, he's most likely working out or smoldering at the camera.