ABSTRACT
Although scientific controversies are resolved when the evidence favours one of the arguments, in fact many of these controversies that were resolved in the scientific field continue to circulate as real controversies in the social sphere and even in political debates. That is the case of the reality of climate change and the unproven connection between vaccines and autism. Such disputes are not purely ‘scientific’, they are formed around and structured by complex social interest. In addition, against the rigour of scientific research, now the Internet allows a wide diffusion of unconfirmed information. In this chapter, we will examine the controversy surrounding online videos. Almost 24% present controversies, mainly on vaccines, followed by climate change. However, nanotechnology has not come to the public agenda as a controversial issue. When scientific issues are presented as controversial, in most cases they do so from a political or social rather than from a scientific frame. User-generated content is most likely to introduce controversy. Future works might consider the relationship between the presence of science on the public agenda and the levels of controversy in online video.
