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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: 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.