Skip to main content
International

The UN partners with Google to filter ‘distorted’ climate change results

Oct 06, 2022

Share

During a panel on disinformation at the World Economic Forum, the United Nations’ under-secretary-general for global communications spoke about the U.N. partnering with Google on climate change.

In April, the U.N. announced it had teamed up with the tech giant to push “verified climate information.” Under-Secretary General Melissa Fleming said the move was a response to what she called “distorted information” in the top search results.

“We started this partnership when we were shocked to see that when you googled climate change, we were getting incredibly distorted information right at the top,” Fleming said.

Google is the dominant search engine of choice globally, accounting for 92% of the world’s search engine market according to StatCounter. Most users find the information they need on the first page. A 2013 study by Chitika insights found that sites listed on the first Google search results page generate 92% of all traffic from an average search. When moving from page one to two, the traffic dropped by 95% according to the data.

The U.N. says prioritizing its content will ensure that “factual, trustworthy content about climate is available to as wide a global audience as possible.” The move comes as the expanding access to rhetoric and potential misinformation online has prompted other world leaders to push for restrictions on the content people see.

“The need for accurate, science-based information on a subject like climate change has therefore never been greater,” added Fleming.

While Google does not control the content of individual websites, experts say it’s within its right as a non-government organization to filter data in compliance with the law and its own policies.

For the U.N. this partnership is an effort to help tackle the climate crisis.

Toward the end of the forum Fleming said “We are becoming much more proactive. We own the science and we think that the world should know it and the platforms themselves also do.”

Tags: ,

MAHMOUD BENNETT:

IN PART 1 WE TALKED ABOUT HOW THE OPEN ACCESS TO OPINIONS AND ONLINE RHETORIC – WHETHER ITS PARTIAL TRUTH OR MIXED IN WITH HATE AND LIES- HAS PROMPTED CALLS BY WORLD LEADERS TO CRAFT THE TYPE OF INFORMATION THAT GOES OUT

ON THE ISSUE OF CLIMATE CHANGE – THE UNITED NATIONS HAS ESTABLISHED A PARTNERSHIP WITH GOOGLE

MELISSA FLEMING:

WE PARTNERED WITH GOOGLE FOR EXAMPLE. IF YOU GOOGLE “CLIMATE CHANGE” YOU WILL AT THE TOP OF THE SEARCH YOU WILL GET ALL KINDS OF UN RESOURCES


MAHMOUD BENNETT:

WHILE GOOGLE STATES IT DOES NOT CONTROL THE CONTENT OF WEBSITES – THAT FIRST PAGE OF IT’S SEARCH RESULTS IS WHERE 90% OF USERS CLICK AND STAY – THAT’S BASED ON A 2013 STUDY CONDUCTED BY CHITIKA INSIGHTS

MELISSA FLEMING:

WE STARTED THIS PARTNERSHIP WHEN WE WERE SHOCKED TO SEE THAT WHEN YOU GOOGLED CLIMATE CHANGE – WE WERE GETTING INCREDIBLY DISTORTED INFORMATION RIGHT AT THE TOP

MAHMOUD BENNETT:

GOOGLE IS BY FAR THE GLOBAL DOMINANT SEARCH ENGINE OF CHOICE

AND EXPERTS SAY IT’S WITHIN ITS RIGHT TO FILTER DATA IN COMPLIANCE WITH THE LAW AND ITS OWN POLICIES

BUT THIS  PARTNERSHIP WITH THE UNITED NATIONS SHOWS HOW IT CAN SHAPE THE INFORMATION YOU SEE.

MELISSA FLEMING:

SO WE ARE BECOMING MUCH MORE PROACTIVE. WE OWN THE SCIENCE AND WE THINK THAT THE WORLD SHOULD KNOW IT