the 85-page briefing, titled “
The Good Censor,” … have undertaken a “shift towards censorship” in response to
unwelcome political events around the world. Examples cited in the document include the 2016 election and the rise of Alternative for Deutschland (AfD) in Germany. …
The briefing associates Google’s new role as the guarantor of “civility” …
A 2016 tweet from then-candidate Donald Trump, alleging that Google search suppressed negative results about Hillary Clinton. … Google said that it suppressed negative autocomplete suggestions about everybody, not just Clinton. But it was comparatively easy to find such autocomplete results when searching for Bernie Sanders or Donald Trump. Independent research from psychologist
Dr. Robert Epstein also shows that Google search results (if not autocomplete results) did indeed favor Clinton in 2016.
Twice in the document, Google juxtaposes a factoid about “Russian interference” in American elections with pictures of Donald Trump. …
the document admits that tech platforms are changing their policies to pre-empt congressional action on foreign interference. …
It is unclear for whom the “Good Censor” was intended. … Google spent (or paid someone to spend) significant time and effort to produce it. … many of the briefing’s recommendations are now reflected in the policy of Google and its sibling companies.
The document also bemoans that the internet allows “have a go commenters” (in other words,
ordinary people) to compete on a level playing field with “authoritative sources” like the New York Times. Google-owned YouTube now
promotes so-called “authoritative sources” in its algorithm. …
Connect With Us