The rise in people who think the Earth is flat is caused by convincing YouTube videos that 'promote misinformation', psychologists have suggested.
Researchers say the platform should present a more balanced list of content rather than one-sided conspiracy theories.
They said that YouTube needs to make changes to its algorithms to make their systems more accurate but also called on experts to create content to disprove the claims.
Scroll down for video
The rise in people who think the Earth (artist's impression) is flat is caused by convincing YouTube videos which 'promote misinformation', a study claims. Researchers say the platform should present a more balanced list of content rather than one-sided ideas (stock image)
The researchers, from Texas Tech University, said that their suspicions were solidified when they went to two Flat Earth conventions in North Carolina and Denver last year and in 2017.
They interviewed 30 attendees where a pattern became evident in how they became convinced that the Earth was flat.
Of the 30 people, only one said that they believed the Earth was round until two years ago but changed their minds after watching Youtube clips.
'The only person who didn't say this was there with his daughter and his son-in-law and they had seen it on Youtube and told him about it,' Dr Asheley Landrum, who led the research, told the Guardian.
The interviews also revealed that the attendees were predisposed to believing far-fetched ideas because they watched similar videos on 9/11 and the moon landings.
Some had even watched Flat Earth videos to discredit and debunk them but found that they were won over by the material.
People who believe the Earth is disc-shaped (artist's impression) rather than round are called 'Flat Earthers'. A number of videos promoting the Flat Earth conspiracy exist on YouTube, but the team says that there aren't enough to contest them (stock image)
People who believe the idea that the Earth is disc-shaped rather than round are called 'Flat Earthers'.
A number of videos promoting the Flat Earth conspiracy exist on YouTube, but the team says that there aren't enough to contest them.
Their interviewes found themselves believers and before long were asking questions like 'where is the curve?' and 'why is the horizon always at eye level?', they said.
Dr Landrum said that one of the most popular videos is the two hour long '200 proofs Earth is not a spinning ball', which has been turned into a book that has been translated into 20 different languages.
She says that this video appears to be effective because it offers arguments that appeal to so many mindsets, from fundamentalists and conspiracy theorists - and even scientists.
Dr Landrum said she did not think YouTube was doing anything 'overtly wrong', but that the site could tweak its algorithm to show more accurate information.
'There's a lot of helpful information on YouTube but also a lot of
