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Days after the Trump administration instituted a controversial travel ban in January 2017, Google employees discussed ways they might be able to tweak the company's search-related functions to show users how to contribute to pro-immigration organizations and contact lawmakers and government agencies, according to internal company emails.
The email traffic, reviewed by The Wall Street Journal, shows that employees proposed ways to "leverage" search functions and take steps to counter what they considered to be "islamophobic, algorithmically biased results from search terms 'Islam', 'Muslim', 'Iran', etc." and "prejudiced, algorithmically biased search results from search terms 'Mexico', 'Hispanic', 'Latino', etc."
The email chain, while sprinkled with cautionary notes about engaging in political activity, suggests employees considered ways to harness the company's vast influence on the internet in response to the travel ban. Google said none of the ideas discussed were implemented.
"These emails were just a brainstorm of ideas, none of which were ever implemented," a company spokeswoman said in a statement. "Google has never manipulated its search results or modified any of its products to promote a particular political ideology—not in the current campaign season, not during the 2016 election, and not in the aftermath of President Trump's executive order on immigration. Our processes and policies would not have allowed for any manipulation of search results to promote political ideologies."
wsj.com/articles/google-workers-discussed-tweaking-search-function-to-counter-travel-ban-1537488472
(Score: 5, Insightful) by bob_super on Tuesday September 25 2018, @06:13PM (37 children)
People react to news that went around the world. Check whether they could contribute. Decide not to take action.
How is that news ?
(Score: 5, Touché) by ikanreed on Tuesday September 25 2018, @06:40PM (20 children)
Because it's very important for conservatives to feel constantly oppressed even as they control all the levers of power.
(Score: 2) by VLM on Tuesday September 25 2018, @06:55PM (7 children)
Darn those capitalists
https://www.infowars.com/the-list-platforms-that-have-banned-infowars-and-alex-jones/ [infowars.com]
(Score: 5, Informative) by ikanreed on Tuesday September 25 2018, @07:18PM (5 children)
Bowing to organized pressure by leftists isn't exactly captialism at work; those sites have been happy to let Jones continue to wildly violate their ToS for years, until an organized campaign brought attention to his specific misbehaviors.
That's definitely the spin left-leaning people put on it, though: "oh its your own free market values in action", and I think they're full of shit when they say that.
(Score: 2, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday September 25 2018, @08:38PM (1 child)
They are not fullof of shit. The "market" is made up people. Market forces are putting pressure on companies, said companies modify their behavior to maximize market value.
Previous bad behavior has always been excused by saying companies can do what they want and it is their job to maximize profits. Same thing here, just now instead of hurting employees or the environment "the market" is hurting the conservative nutjobs.
I am not surprised that conservatives are now crying, i guess with them it is Freedom of Speech for me but not for thee.
I am totally fine with anti monopoly actions for tech, the future will soon have search engines of all sorts, like the various business directories, real estate magazines, etc.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday September 26 2018, @05:32AM
Yeah so that makes the lefties actually from the right-wing, right? It is like right-wing lunatics are now claiming to be leftists. Is it not??
Pick a fucking side of an argument. But it is simply better to jump on the side of power, isn't it?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday September 25 2018, @10:07PM (1 child)
> leftists isn't exactly captialism at work;
Could it be the work of a true scotsman?
Capitalism is an economic theory, just exactly how sterile do you need the world before the invisible unimpeded hand of god suddenly starts acting in the best interests of humanity?
So I'll start the list
1. Criminalize activism against corporate interests
2. Eliminate all welfare
3. End public education
I'll let you continue here and I'll convert it to a YAML settings file for reality and have a priest deliver it to god by the end of sprint ok?
(Score: 2, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday September 25 2018, @10:47PM
Naah bro, we just need anarcho-capitalism, a series of contracts, and the infinite contract-enforcing turtles.
Mr. Vim has assured me that if those 3 things instantly result, it will be for the best.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by c0lo on Wednesday September 26 2018, @12:15AM
What is that makes you think that capitalism and freedom of speech are the same thing?
If the company sees the potential to greater losses if they continue to platform for a minority, there's nothing in the "principles of capitalism" to stop the company jettisoning the minority.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
(Score: 2) by FatPhil on Tuesday September 25 2018, @08:55PM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CHgUN_95UAw
Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people; the smallest discuss themselves
(Score: 5, Insightful) by hemocyanin on Tuesday September 25 2018, @07:56PM (10 children)
Which conservatives? The ones who call themselves Republicans or the ones who call themselves Democrats?
(Score: 2, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday September 25 2018, @08:03PM (1 child)
Yes.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday September 26 2018, @05:34AM
reddit's leaking
(Score: 3, Insightful) by RandomFactor on Tuesday September 25 2018, @09:42PM (6 children)
While many Republicans and occassionally Democrats may call themselves conservatives, reality is that the number of conservatives in either party is significantly lower.
В «Правде» нет известий, в «Известиях» нет правды
(Score: 2) by c0lo on Wednesday September 26 2018, @12:20AM
You bloody progressive you!
Putting a positive spin on the things, pushing your own agenda and spreading a bias?
(VERY LARGE GRIN)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
(Score: 2, Disagree) by hemocyanin on Wednesday September 26 2018, @01:11AM (4 children)
The parties are basically indistinguishable -- both are war like, both are spendthrifts, neither really cares about civil liberties or average people, etc. etc. The venn diagram of Republicans vs. Democrats is so close to being a circle, you need lab quality instruments to see where they diverge.
(Score: 4, Insightful) by bob_super on Wednesday September 26 2018, @01:33AM (3 children)
I used to let those slide, but I'm pretty sure paying attention for the last 4 years would show some significant differences in many places which matter, starting with Net Neutrality and business-worship stance, on top of the expected social issues.
Or maybe you need your lab instruments to find your evidently shrunk capacity to observe to drift of both parties to the right, especially the one that started pretty far right.
(Score: 3, Informative) by hemocyanin on Wednesday September 26 2018, @02:54AM (2 children)
Nobody seemed to be able to compare the GWB to Obama terms, you know where Obama expanded all the wars, catfood commission (thank goodness the GOP wouldn't work with him), making 82% of the Bush tax cuts permanent, opposing a ban on cluster bombs, due process free execution based on secret legal memos to one-up Bush's Gitmo, cutting safety requirements for offshore rigs in the Gulf of Mexico just before one blew up, bailing out banksters .... yeah, Democrats rock. /sarc
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday September 26 2018, @01:12PM (1 child)
It's called *politics* and *compromise* and why *ELECTIONS FUCKING MATTER*.
Since for most of the time Democrats were arguing how to best have Obamacare implemented, they really did fuck-all next, assuming that Republicans are going to remain sane. That assumption was incorrect. What happens is an example of why compromise with Republicans is a one way street these days.
(Score: 2) by hemocyanin on Wednesday September 26 2018, @02:21PM
The fact that Democrats' major sense of pride comes from implementing Nixon's healthcare plan says a lot.
(Score: 2) by mobydisk on Wednesday September 26 2018, @03:12PM
They must be referring to the conservatives who voted for a billionaire playboy with no religious faith.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday September 25 2018, @09:00PM
Eich would not agree with you. Is there an Eich equivalent for the left? A Kavanaugh equivalent? Oh yes Clinton framed by Lewinsky. Well, 2-1.
(Score: 1, Flamebait) by khallow on Tuesday September 25 2018, @06:50PM (2 children)
Not everyone can "contribute" in the way that Google can. And maybe someone decided to take action after all.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday September 25 2018, @10:24PM (1 child)
Yeah they decided not to do "this", we should see what they actually did.
Of course their bias was already known when you compared search hints for Hillary Clinton from Google to EVERY OTHER SEARCH ENGINE.
Also Bill Clinton is a Rapist, Infowars.com
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday September 25 2018, @11:00PM
Google:
#1 official website
#2 official twitter
#3 wikipedia article
#4 biography.com bio
#5 ABC news section for her
#6 official facebook
#7 Guardian news section for her
#8 NYT news section
#9 Hillary Clinton: American Democracy Is in Crisis - The Atlantic [theatlantic.com]
#10 What Is Hillary Clinton Afraid Of? - POLITICO Magazine [politico.com]
Duck:
#1 official website
#2 wikipedia article
#3 official twitter
#4 Politico news section for her
#5 biography.com bio
#6 official facebook
#7 official instagram
#8 NYT news section
#9 HuffPo news section
*clicks Load More*
#10 official website's issues section
--
3 news results displayed on the search page (ellipses preserved):
Google:
#1 Hillary Clinton’s Upcoming TV Project Provokes More Negative Reaction Th... [deadline.com]
#2 Democratic Pollster: Hillary Clinton's Support Is Too Weak To Win A Presidential Election [townhall.com]
#3 Kavanaugh takes a crisis-management cue from the Clintons [cnn.com]
Duck:
#1 Hillary Clinton’s attack on the Electoral College is only her latest act of desper... [foxnews.com]
#2 Hillary Clinton says Trump will 'wholesale fire people' after midterm elections [foxnews.com]
#3 Hillary Clinton calls out Republican Party: 'Why are they so intimidated?' [go.com]
(Score: 2) by VLM on Tuesday September 25 2018, @06:55PM (8 children)
Eventually "monopolies should be able to do whatever they want" impacts the numerous draconian regulations of the Federal Election Commission and then fireworks will ensue.
Technically it can all be a "coincidence" that a company is being run in a manner indistinguishable from a political action committee, but if they're not documented correctly as being primarily a propaganda outlet, that can result in a great pile of felonies.
(Score: 4, Funny) by bob_super on Tuesday September 25 2018, @07:03PM (1 child)
When did the topic change to Twitter ?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday September 25 2018, @07:30PM
Ok, I clearly have not kept up on all the dog whistles.
From over here, it looks like the topic changed to Twitter with your post. Help me, Obi-wan Kenobi!
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday September 25 2018, @07:47PM (4 children)
Ok, question for you Trump-types since I tend to bash on the right-wing authoritarian followers called SJWs but don't spend nearly enough time bashing on the right-wing authoritarian followers called the alt-right.
Does Faux News and other alt-right news sources promote the Duck and StartPage and other search engines? If not, why not?
There's Conservatopedia, gab.ai, etc, but are there any initiatives to create an alt-right search engine if Goog is to be the SJW search engine?
(I've been using Duck for years, very happy with it.)
(Score: 2) by RandomFactor on Tuesday September 25 2018, @09:49PM (2 children)
Sounds like you are pretending to be 'fair and balanced'
В «Правде» нет известий, в «Известиях» нет правды
(Score: 2, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday September 25 2018, @11:21PM
Nope. I'm left of the USA Green Party. I believe that the working class should own and control the means of production.
There's a whole political space out there above [theadvocates.org] and to the left of the USA Democratic Party.
The global lurch towards authoritarianism concerns me deeply.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday September 26 2018, @12:52AM
"Fairly Unbalanced", sort of like "round the bend", or "off kilter", batshit rabid republican insane, or Mike Judge Jennine Pirrogie Faux News insane, brought to you by Rupert.
(Score: 2) by VLM on Wednesday September 26 2018, @01:03PM
Faux news is the swamp that needs draining, its much closer to CNN than the alt-right.
Look at coverage of McCain dying, for example. Alt right stuff complains about how McCain was a war criminal working for the deaths of milions of innocents in the middle east, and his tumor gave its life for the peace and safety of the world, etc. Meanwhile fox news is just like CNN and MSNBC in that they've never seen a RINO globalist warmonger they don't love and he should be canonized as a saint. Thats just one example of course.
(Score: 2) by Phoenix666 on Tuesday September 25 2018, @10:02PM
It should be considered an in-kind contribution, because that's what it is.
Washington DC delenda est.
(Score: 2) by crafoo on Tuesday September 25 2018, @08:12PM (1 child)
"contribute"
Clever. "Contributing" in this case means modifying search results to bias for a particular political goal. But guys, they were just "contributing" (contributing to what? Exactly?)
(Score: 4, Touché) by bob_super on Tuesday September 25 2018, @09:03PM
Awareness that the echo of the 1930s was getting stronger than before ?
Some people seem to think that the current state of affairs is okay. Those people need a History lesson.
(Score: 0, Disagree) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday September 25 2018, @09:05PM
The company spokeswoman is lying in some way. Even if they are unaware of manipulation, they are a willing participant in false claims.
Here, an example:
https://i.redd.it/px1819v0bbo11.png [i.redd.it]
Look at all those political parties. Some are really obscure. Notice one that is missing?
Google for "Judge Kavanaugh" and Fox, the most popular news in the USA, doesn't appear until the fourth page. Prior to that, it's all hateful fake news.
YouTube, owned by Google, recently banned Alex Jones. His behavior is nothing compared to what leftists normally get away with. Leftists can get away with calling for republicans to be killed.
(Score: 1, Troll) by The Mighty Buzzard on Wednesday September 26 2018, @01:26AM
It fills the last three people in the US who didn't know Google was full of radical progressives in on the fact. That's about it.
They've got every right in the world to do whatever they like with their search engine. They own it and a monopoly argument for regulation would be patently absurd. Transparency of a company's political motives if they have any is never a bad thing though.
My rights don't end where your fear begins.