Like Facebook and Twitter, tech giant Google has denied time and time again they are politically biassed. And if you believe that we have a bridge to sell you …
Especially when there are articles and threads like this from Kirsten Grind of the Wall Street Journal taking the ‘gatekeeper of the internet’ to task over their very own algorithms.
Google, the gatekeeper of the internet, wants you to believe its algorithms are autonomous and objective. They're not. Read our year-long investigation: https://t.co/ZpyqcFNfwh
— Kirsten Grind (@KirstenGrind) November 15, 2019
Year-long investigation.
Wow.
From the Wall Street Journal:
The company states in a Google blog, “We do not use human curation to collect or arrange the results on a page.” It says it can’t divulge details about how the algorithms work because the company is involved in a long-running and high-stakes battle with those who want to profit by gaming the system.
But that message often clashes with what happens behind the scenes. Over time, Google has increasingly re-engineered and interfered with search results to a far greater degree than the company and its executives have acknowledged, a Wall Street Journal investigation has found.
Big time.
But Google isn’t biassed or anything. Nope.
Google is under constant pressure from powerful interest groups, big advertisers and governments around the world to change results, and it sometimes does. More so since the election.
— Kirsten Grind (@KirstenGrind) November 15, 2019
More so since the election … ya’ don’t say.
Gosh, wonder why and who could be pressuring them.
It’s a mystery.
Internally, Sergey Brin and Larry Page have themselves disagreed on how much to intervene (read through for a key bathroom scene!) and employees are always lobbying for changes on, you guessed it, the message boards
— Kirsten Grind (@KirstenGrind) November 15, 2019
We tested a bunch of search terms for hot button issues like abortion and politicians like Donald Trump – the differences in what Google shows, especially in auto-complete, are clear.
— Kirsten Grind (@KirstenGrind) November 15, 2019
If the content hurts Trump or Republicans they show more of it, if it helps Trump or Republicans they show less of it.
Just a guess.
And yes! Google uses blacklists we found, far more than has been reported. It just doesn't disclose it. That's the main problem – it doesn't disclose how it's making any of these changes/decisions.
— Kirsten Grind (@KirstenGrind) November 15, 2019
The problem is they pretend they’re just a browser when really they’re deliberately working to change messaging, push agendas, and maybe even influence elections.
Scary stuff, folks. (cough cough Duck Duck Go cough cough)
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