Analysis of climate denialism on YouTubeRefuting instead of debating

  1. DAVID VICENTE TORRICO
Revue:
Catalan journal of communication & cultural studies

ISSN: 1757-1898

Année de publication: 2023

Volumen: 15

Número: 2

Pages: 217-235

Type: Article

DOI: 10.1386/CJCS_00089_1 DIALNET GOOGLE SCHOLAR

D'autres publications dans: Catalan journal of communication & cultural studies

Objectifs de Développement Durable

Résumé

The scientific consensus on the existence, the human origin, the seriousness of the consequences and the urgency of adopting immediate solutions to climate change is growing, as successive reports by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change have shown. The alteration of global climate patterns experienced in recent years confirms the worst prediction models, and yet there are still voices that question these facts. This study proposes to examine the interpretative frameworks underpinning public discussion of climate denialism on the online video platform YouTube. To this end, it presents an analysis of the 50 most popular videos under the label of climate denialism in Spanish, paying attention to the key issues and figures on which the denialist ideology is articulated and the attitude of support, neutrality or rejection on the part of those responsible for the content. The results obtained show the generalized rejection of the denialist discourse among Spanish-speaking content creators, who resort to experienced sources and contrasted resources to refute these arguments, as well as the politicization of scientific knowledge in terms of debate, uncertainty, mistrust and lack of commitment to deal with the consequences.

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