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[Ed note: This story was originally posted 2019-08-15 04:41 UTC but was lost when we had the site crash Thursday morning. Prior comments have, unfortunately, been lost. --martyb]
'Google Blocked TorrentFreak From Appearing in Search Feature'
Documents released by whistleblower Zachary Vorhies suggests that Google actively blocked hundreds of sites, including TorrentFreak, from its Google Now service. The blocklist doesn't provide a specific reason for the blockade, but other sites are flagged for having a high user block rate or for peddling hoax stories. Vorhies has shared the documents with the US Department of Justice.
At TorrentFreak, we have written hundreds of articles about website blocking and censorship. Today, we're featured in one ourselves.
Leaked Google documents reveal that TorrentFreak.com shows up in one of Google's previously unknown blocklists, which actively hides our domain from the Google Now service.
Google Now was a Google search feature that presented users with informational cards, to provide users with more details on subjects of interest to them. While the brand no longer exists, the feature is still present in the Google Android app and its feed.
The controversial blocklist is part of a treasure trove of files that were leaked by whistleblower Zachary Vorhies, who shared them with Project Veritas. The entire collection of files uncovers many previously unknown policies and actions from Google.
The story that broke SoylentNews™.
See also (Zachary Vorhies in the news): YouTube Software Engineer Describes Seeing Altercation In Building Courtyard
America's Greatest Makers is like American Idol for geeks, so we talked to one
Previously: Veritas Claims Leaked Internal E-Mails from Google Showing Political Bias of Results
(Score: 1, Troll) by jmorris on Friday August 16 2019, @04:54AM (5 children)
Nope. Not crazy, not insane, not deluded, not misguided. Evil. Google is Evil.
Only when we look it square in the eye and call it by its name do we have any hope of defeating it. And that is the second truth. We won't reform any of these converged institutions. They have to be destroyed. Google must be destroyed. No mercy, no debate, no compromise that leaves parts of it intact to reassemble like AT&T has after the breakup. Root and branch, Same for too many others to count.
(Score: 2, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Friday August 16 2019, @05:37AM (1 child)
Unfortunately I've also been gradually coming to the same conclusion.
At first I just assumed Google was either just going a bit overboard on identity politics and/or using such to try to get more women/blacks/browns/etc into computer science. They have around 100,000 employees many of them earning 6 figures a year. They spend billions to tens of billions of dollars just on labor per year. Increase the labor pool size, decrease the demand for said labor, decrease wages, earn $$$.
However, their continuing pattern of radicalized behavior matched with things such as this or their actions in China (where they were developing a censored search engine that would track users by tying their mobile to all searches/accesses and came with blacklists censoring such terms as, literally, "human rights") are gradually making me trend towards your conclusion as well. I have no clue whatsoever their motivation might be, but it seems to me that Google is trying to actively instigate a culture war of sorts. I suppose they might be conceiving of the notion that national instability could result in their own empowerment -- an October Revolution driven, as always, by masses of useful idiots. Indeed that term is not necessarily a pejorative but a descriptor allegedly coined by Lenin himself.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by Arik on Friday August 16 2019, @06:22AM
They're chasing short term profits. The NSA and the Chinese equivalent are both very interested in making them 'evil' and will guarantee profits.
The advertising industry likes the same thing, and reliably forks over money as well.
If laughter is the best medicine, who are the best doctors?
(Score: 2) by Phoenix666 on Friday August 16 2019, @01:50PM (1 child)
Google is worse than evil. They're self-righteous.
Washington DC delenda est.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday August 16 2019, @04:42PM
Lolololol
YOU calling ANYONE ELSE self-righteous is pretty hilarious.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday August 16 2019, @10:03PM
"The beginning of wisdom is to call things by their right names"