According to a recent research by carbon accounting consultant Greenly, social media platforms have a “often overlooked environmental cost,” with video-heavy websites like YouTube and TikTok contributing enough greenhouse gas emissions to cover a small nation.
Every digital action has carbon repercussions.
The Greenly study examined how businesses like YouTube, Snapchat, TikTok, and Meta (the company that owns Facebook, Instagram, Threads, and WhatsApp) affect the environment by comparing the carbon footprint of each platform’s users every minute.
Each company’s sustainability statements and actions were also considered, as was the energy required to process and store data, the various types of data that predominate on each site, the energy consumption of people using and charging scrolling devices like laptops or mobile phones, and even the energy sources in different countries, whether they are fossil fuel-based, “clean,” or renewable.
According to the paper, “a vast digital infrastructure, driven by data centers and servers that consume significant amounts of electricity, lies behind every social media post or video.” Since a large portion of this electricity is still produced using carbon-intensive resources like coal, oil, and gas, every digital activity adds to the world’s carbon emissions. Concern over this hidden environmental impact, which is caused by both businesses and their users, is growing in light of climate change.
TikTok users are massive emitters because to the platform’s algorithm and video content.
One of the worst offenders of emissions was discovered to be TikTok. Because of an additive algorithm that keeps users on the network for a full 15 minutes longer than on Instagram, for instance, the typical user spends 45.8 minutes a day on the platform. Even worse, users are consuming 15.81 mAh per minute while viewing energy-intensive video material on the platform, which is 50% more than X’s 10.28 mAh per minute.
Because of this, TikTok emits 176,059 kg CO₂e per day, which is much more than X’s 101,675 kg CO₂e, despite having less users in the US. Not even YouTube, which has more than twice as many users as TikTok, emits twice as much pollution.
Since somewhat less than 15% of TikTok’s users are from the US, UK, and France, the platform’s total carbon footprint is probably approximately 50 million metric tonnes of CO2e. For comparison, the International Energy Agency estimates that Greece’s 2023 annual carbon emissions were 51.67 million metric tons of CO2e.
“Multimedia content, especially video, and high engagement times increase emissions, making platforms like TikTok some of the most environmentally impactful,” the paper states. “The carbon impact of social media can be decreased by encouraging users to adopt less energy-intensive behaviors, such as limiting video autoplay features or spending less time on platforms with a lot of videos.”
How about business action?
According to the report, corporate responsibility must be done in addition to individual user-level initiatives like limiting video material and choosing their devices carefully. Although X has not made any progress on its environmental goal of becoming carbon neutral in all of its data centers by 2022 since Elon Musk took CEO, there is still hope. Since 2021, Meta has reduced its CO2 emissions by more than 16.4 million metric tons and is currently among the world’s biggest purchasers of renewable energy. As part of its efforts to become carbon neutral by 2030, TikTok has also set up a data center in Norway that is entirely powered by renewable energy.
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