Pinterest has banned the use of climate misinformation on the platform, saying it would remove false or misleading information and conspiracy theories about climate change.
Searches for the sustainable look of Pinterest are on the increase, with inquiries for the “zero waste lifestyle” increasing by 64 percent in the past year.
The new policy also takes away issues that deny the existence or impacts of climate change, human impact on climate change or the fact that climate change is underpinned by scientific consensus.
Imprecise reports of natural disasters and extreme weather events are removed, as are misrepresentations of scientific data by omission, or cherry-picking, aimed at undermining confidence in climatic science.
In addition, Pinterest modified the advertising guidelines to explicitly ban advertisements using conspiracy theories, misinformation, and disinformation in connection with climate change.
A report released this week by a panel of experts convened by the United Nations concluded that states need to slash fossil-fuel emissions over the next few years to prevent catastrophe of global warming.
‘This bold move is an expansion of our broader misinformation guidelines, which we first developed in 2017 to address public health misinformation, and have since updated to address new and emerging issues as they come to the forefront,’ said Sarah Bromma, director of policy at Pinterest.
As ads, they make up the entire Pinterest revenue.
