Through its algorithm, YouTube suggests millions of users to watch videos that deny ongoing climate change. This is what the NGO Avaaz reports according to a study published today, which examined the videos that YouTube recommends to its users when searching on the platform for some keywords. The NGO also highlights that at the beginning of some of the climate denial videos, paid advertisements of some major international brands and organizations are shown, without their being informed.
According to data collected by Avaaz, 16% of the top 100 related videos for 'global warming' research contained disinformation, with an average of over one million views per video for the top 10. For research on ' climate change ', the figure is 8%, but increases to 21% with the terms' climate manipulation'. Avaaz believes this is only the "tip of the iceberg", given that YouTube's recommendation algorithms are responsible for about 70% of the total time that users spend on the site.
