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Tell Google: you need to demonetize ALL climate disinfo on YouTube.

In June, Google pledged to demonetize Heartland Institute, one of the biggest spreaders of climate disinformation on YouTube – after literal years of tireless advocacy from you, me, and thousands of other climate action supporters.1

This is really good news for our movement, but there is much more to be done. Google still runs ads on scores of climate deniers' videos on their platforms, allowing them to profit off their lies.2 We need all these fraudsters gone so we can get clear on the real facts of climate change. 

 

It sometimes seems like a company like Google is too big for us to influence. We populate Google products every day, but we don’t own the company or make the rules. But we know this: Google is listening to us, and we can affect change. 

How do we know? Because we won! 

Sign the petition to tell Google: Thanks for pledging to taking action against Heartland Institute. Now, continue to demonetize those polluting the information ecosystem on YouTube and Google search.

Disinformation is designed to waste precious time in the critical mission to get everyone on the same page about the necessity of swift climate action. Not only do they confuse the public, but climate liars also catalyze credible threats against climate scientists and experts, stifling their ability to reach the public and putting their lives in danger.3 And as climate change causes more frequent extreme and dangerous weather events, climate denial worsens a real and present threat against all of us by stymying action that could temper these growing risks.4 Yet Google continues to slow-walk their way towards addressing these threats – in direct opposition to their own stated policies and sustainability commitments. Demonetizing disinformation is literally the least they can do.

Sign the petition to Google: Demonetize all the remaining climate deniers on YouTube.


Petition text:

Dear Google,

Thank you for demonetizing known climate-deniers Heartland Institute on YouTube. Your action helps combat climate disinformation on your platforms in accordance with your commitment to sustainability. I am writing to encourage you to take similar future actions and expand your climate disinformation policies.

The climate crisis is one of the greatest threats that humanity faces, which is why the fossil fuel companies that oppose climate action are dead-set on obscuring the threats and their causes – with Google’s help through your continued monetization of disinformation and allowance of greenwashing on your platforms. We can’t tackle this massive challenge without an informed public. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) provided a stark warning for the consequences of failing to act on climate change, while describing the “growth in misinformation” as an attempt “to maintain the status quo by actors in positions of power”. Misinformation on platforms like Google and YouTube pose a legitimate threat to our nation’s ability to respond to this crisis, as well as putting climate scientists in peril through direct threats and causing global harm as people die in extreme weather events

The climate crisis intensifies each and every day. There’s little time to waste. Solving climate change is hard enough– we must not make it any harder by amplifying disinformation. Demonetizing Heartland Institute was an important step, and I urge you to take further action on the climate deniers identified in the Center for Countering Digital Hate’s report and by implementing the policies recommended by the Climate Action Against Disinformation Coalition. 

Thank you for your consideration.

Sincerely,

Your name


Sources:

  1. “WIN: YouTube has demonetized the Heartland Institute,” Center for Countering Digital Hate, Jun. 26, 2024; “Heartland Launches Website of Contrarian Climate Science Amid Struggles With Funding and Controversy,” Inside Climate News, Mar. 13, 2020.
  2. “A new kind of climate denial has taken over on YouTube,” The Verge, Jan. 16, 2024.
  3. “The New Climate Denial,” Center for Countering Digital Hate, Jan. 16, 2024; “Death threats, trolling and sexist abuse: climate scientists report online attacks,” Nature, Apr. 6, 2023. 
  4. “Climate Change Indicators: Heat-Related Deaths,” US EPA, Jun. 2024.

Tell Google:

you need to demonetize ALL climate disinfo on YouTube.

In June, Google finally pledged to demonetize Heartland Institute, one of the biggest spreaders of climate disinformation on YouTube – after literal years of tireless advocacy from you, me, and thousands of other climate action supporters. 

This is really good news for our movement, but we know there is much more to be done. Google still runs ads on scores of climate deniers' videos on their platforms, allowing them to profit from their lies. We need all these fraudsters gone so we can get clear on the real facts of climate change.

 

 

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In June, Google pledged to demonetize Heartland Institute, one of the biggest spreaders of climate disinformation on YouTube – after literal years of tireless advocacy from you, me, and thousands of other climate action supporters.1

This is really good news for our movement, but there is much more to be done. Google still runs ads on scores of climate deniers' videos on their platforms, allowing them to profit off their lies.2 We need all these fraudsters gone so we can get clear on the real facts of climate change. 

 

It sometimes seems like a company like Google is too big for us to influence. We populate Google products every day, but we don’t own the company or make the rules. But we know this: Google is listening to us, and we can affect change. 

How do we know? Because we won! 

Sign the petition to tell Google: Thanks for pledging to taking action against Heartland Institute. Now, continue to demonetize those polluting the information ecosystem on YouTube and Google search.

Disinformation is designed to waste precious time in the critical mission to get everyone on the same page about the necessity of swift climate action. Not only do they confuse the public, but climate liars also catalyze credible threats against climate scientists and experts, stifling their ability to reach the public and putting their lives in danger.3 And as climate change causes more frequent extreme and dangerous weather events, climate denial worsens a real and present threat against all of us by stymying action that could temper these growing risks.4 Yet Google continues to slow-walk their way towards addressing these threats – in direct opposition to their own stated policies and sustainability commitments. Demonetizing disinformation is literally the least they can do.

Sign the petition to Google: Demonetize all the remaining climate deniers on YouTube.


Petition text:

Dear Google,

Thank you for demonetizing known climate-deniers Heartland Institute on YouTube. Your action helps combat climate disinformation on your platforms in accordance with your commitment to sustainability. I am writing to encourage you to take similar future actions and expand your climate disinformation policies.

The climate crisis is one of the greatest threats that humanity faces, which is why the fossil fuel companies that oppose climate action are dead-set on obscuring the threats and their causes – with Google’s help through your continued monetization of disinformation and allowance of greenwashing on your platforms. We can’t tackle this massive challenge without an informed public. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) provided a stark warning for the consequences of failing to act on climate change, while describing the “growth in misinformation” as an attempt “to maintain the status quo by actors in positions of power”. Misinformation on platforms like Google and YouTube pose a legitimate threat to our nation’s ability to respond to this crisis, as well as putting climate scientists in peril through direct threats and causing global harm as people die in extreme weather events

The climate crisis intensifies each and every day. There’s little time to waste. Solving climate change is hard enough– we must not make it any harder by amplifying disinformation. Demonetizing Heartland Institute was an important step, and I urge you to take further action on the climate deniers identified in the Center for Countering Digital Hate’s report and by implementing the policies recommended by the Climate Action Against Disinformation Coalition. 

Thank you for your consideration.

Sincerely,

Your name


Sources:

  1. “WIN: YouTube has demonetized the Heartland Institute,” Center for Countering Digital Hate, Jun. 26, 2024; “Heartland Launches Website of Contrarian Climate Science Amid Struggles With Funding and Controversy,” Inside Climate News, Mar. 13, 2020.
  2. “A new kind of climate denial has taken over on YouTube,” The Verge, Jan. 16, 2024.
  3. “The New Climate Denial,” Center for Countering Digital Hate, Jan. 16, 2024; “Death threats, trolling and sexist abuse: climate scientists report online attacks,” Nature, Apr. 6, 2023. 
  4. “Climate Change Indicators: Heat-Related Deaths,” US EPA, Jun. 2024.

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