4 ms·

I get a little uncomfortable that a private company with as much power as Google is in the position to try to determine what is a legitimate news source and wha

I get a little uncomfortable that a private company with as much power as Google is in the position to try to determine what is a legitimate news source and what is a fake news site. This issue goes well beyond left vs. right. Leftist fake news may not currently be as prevalent, but the number of anti-vaxxers and vehemently anti-science screeds against "chemicals" shows that there's more than enough fake news blame to go around. You are right that it is rotting our democracy. Information has become disinformation. People are moving to a "gut" only method of deciding what information to believe. I don't know if Google is the one to determine this by withdrawing funding from fake-news. I don't know if anyone trusts government enough anymore for them to take on the problem. How do you determine a legitimate journalist?

vinhboy 10y ago
Thank you for making a more balanced statement than I made. I only mentioned "right wing" because I didn't want to be coy about who I thought was the main offender. Obviously you are correct that it happens else where as well. And your thing about the anti-science folks is spot on. I can't research anything for my baby without hitting some ridiculous "voodoo" type sites. I was not clear in my OP, but I am not suggesting Google filters that information, because I too think that's wrong. I am suggesting "certification", which is like labeling what has been approved. You are still free to visit what you want, but you can choose to trust a certification if you want.
wywwwnet 10y ago
Google is not a private company...