Google, along with its subsidiary, YouTube, announced on Oct. 7 a ban on ads that question the sanctity of “climate change.” They “will prohibit ads for, and monetization of, content that contradicts well-established scientific consensus around the existence and causes of climate change. This includes content referring to climate change as a hoax or a scam, claims denying that long-term trends show the global climate is warming, and claims denying that greenhouse gas emissions or human activity contribute to climate change.” But rest assured: “In creating this policy and its parameters, we’ve consulted authoritative sources on the topic of climate science….”
Adding insult to injury — or hypocrisy to venality — Google wants it known that they are not biased, that they were forced to take this action, but they deserve credit for being on the side of truth. That is, they claim both (a) that advertisers forced them into this censorship, because they simply don’t want to have their ads appear next to such offensive content; and (b) they have been in the lead of the fight all along. “This new policy … aligns strongly with the work we’ve done as a company over the past two decades to promote sustainability and confront climate change head-on.” Their ban begins on Nov. 1.
