Pinterest the First Social Media Platform to Ban “Climate Change Misinformation”

Pinterest updated its policies to ban the spread of misinformation about climate change.

The popular photo-sharing app changed its policies to restrict the spread of “climate misinformation,” according to new guidelines announced on Wednesday.

“Our new policy makes Pinterest the only major digital platform to have clearly defined guidelines against false or misleading climate change information, including conspiracy theories, across content and ads,” the tech company said in a press release.

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Pinterest’s community guidelines now ban the sharing of content that “denies the existence or impacts of climate change,” meaning any “false or misleading content about climate change solutions” that contradicts the “scientific consensus” and “misrepresents scientific data.”

“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 Pinterest Head of Policy Sarah Bromma in a statement. “The expanded climate misinformation policy is yet another step in Pinterest’s journey to combat misinformation and create a safe space online.”

When asked about the change, Bromma told the Washington Examiner that it was due to increased interest in environmentally friendly options among users.

“We know Pinners are coming to the platform to find ideas to incorporate sustainability into their entire lifestyle. For example, searches for ‘zero waste tips’ are 6X greater and ‘recycling clothes ideas’ are 4X higher than last year. We want to cultivate a space that’s trusted and truthful for Pinners to make more informed decisions in their everyday lives.”

The photo-sharing app said it was collaborating with experts from the Climate Disinformation Coalition and the Conscious Advertising Network to develop its moderation policies and determine what may be considered false or misleading.

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Pinterest’s moderation policies are unique in that they do not remove the offending content but rather restrict access to it through the platform’s algorithms. Third-party sources can still view the content.

While most tech companies have moved toward restricting information around the 2020 election and COVID-19 vaccines, climate change and environmental matters have not been prominent areas for moderation in the past. It is unclear whether other companies intend to follow Pinterest’s lead on the subject.