4 ms·

Sounds like you answered your own question.

komali2 8y ago
So how is it a strawman that the GOP is using governmental power to pressure Google (which does not censor conservative content) to show more conservative content? As Google does not censor conservative content, what else would only GOP officials be upset about? If it was general election integrity, the other major issue cross tech/politics right now, why aren't isn't it a bipartisan meeting? Actually, the GOP has downplayed election integrity issues, which further convinces me that it is not a strawman argument to claim the GOP is pressuring tech companies to show more pro-conservative content.
- zaroth 8y ago
  > As Google does not censor conservative content... There are certainly many anecdotal complaints about Google censoring or demonetizing conservatives on YouTube. There have been a few notable instances where Google has promoted incendiary content against conservatives in their search results “answers” — although those cases seemed to algorithms picking up tainted UGC. [1] Also anecdotally, Google News seems to present a highly scewed viewpoint (browsing logged off with no cookies, only inferred location from IP). I’m not aware of rigorous studies, but by no means would I take it as a foregone conclusion that Google is not censoring conservative content. [1] - https://www.cbsnews.com/news/trudy-wade-google-search-result-california-republican-party/ https://www.cbsnews.com/news/trudy-wade-google-search-result...
  - komali2 8y ago
    In the case of Trudy Wade, it was because a student blog was biased against her, which doesn't surprise or upset me. Because Google took it down and apologized, I surmise that this is evidence that they are not biased against conservatives. I appreciate your genuine approach here. The reason I'm being so militant on actual evidence is due to excellent coaching from many people I admire in my life to challenge assumptions and anecdote. Trust me, I'm great fun in design meetings. In this case, I'd agree with you that Google News presents generally liberal news. Generally I'd say this is because there is 1 conservative media conglomerate (Fox) vs so many liberal ones (CNN, NBC, etc), and meanwhile the many ones I would consider "fair" (Al Jazeera, BBC, NPR, NYTimes, WaPo, NHK) seem so anti-conservative because, well, conservative politicians keep doing some pretty shitty things. That being said, Fox is a default source on my uncookied google news, and I've seen Breitbart and other extraordinarily conservative sources, so I don't think there is a Google-level explicit bias, rather a failure on the part of conservative-leaning media to present a perspective as level-headed as, say, NPR. When the best it has to offer is Fox, Breitbart, and InfoWars, I'm not surprised it gets churned. Just checking through sources I had to block due to simply terribly ham-fisted propaganda attempts, here's other ones that show up on google news by default: Investor's Business Daily New York Post RealClearPolitics Screen Rant The Hill Washington Times nationalreview

So how is it a strawman that the GOP is using governmental power to pressure Google (which does not censor conservative content) to show more conservative content? As Google does not censor conservative content, what else would only GOP officials be upset about? If it was general election integrity, the other major issue cross tech/politics right now, why aren't isn't it a bipartisan meeting? Actually, the GOP has downplayed election integrity issues, which further convinces me that it is not a strawman argument to claim the GOP is pressuring tech companies to show more pro-conservative content.

zaroth 8y ago
> As Google does not censor conservative content... There are certainly many anecdotal complaints about Google censoring or demonetizing conservatives on YouTube. There have been a few notable instances where Google has promoted incendiary content against conservatives in their search results “answers” — although those cases seemed to algorithms picking up tainted UGC. [1] Also anecdotally, Google News seems to present a highly scewed viewpoint (browsing logged off with no cookies, only inferred location from IP). I’m not aware of rigorous studies, but by no means would I take it as a foregone conclusion that Google is not censoring conservative content. [1] - https://www.cbsnews.com/news/trudy-wade-google-search-result-california-republican-party/ https://www.cbsnews.com/news/trudy-wade-google-search-result...
- komali2 8y ago
  In the case of Trudy Wade, it was because a student blog was biased against her, which doesn't surprise or upset me. Because Google took it down and apologized, I surmise that this is evidence that they are not biased against conservatives. I appreciate your genuine approach here. The reason I'm being so militant on actual evidence is due to excellent coaching from many people I admire in my life to challenge assumptions and anecdote. Trust me, I'm great fun in design meetings. In this case, I'd agree with you that Google News presents generally liberal news. Generally I'd say this is because there is 1 conservative media conglomerate (Fox) vs so many liberal ones (CNN, NBC, etc), and meanwhile the many ones I would consider "fair" (Al Jazeera, BBC, NPR, NYTimes, WaPo, NHK) seem so anti-conservative because, well, conservative politicians keep doing some pretty shitty things. That being said, Fox is a default source on my uncookied google news, and I've seen Breitbart and other extraordinarily conservative sources, so I don't think there is a Google-level explicit bias, rather a failure on the part of conservative-leaning media to present a perspective as level-headed as, say, NPR. When the best it has to offer is Fox, Breitbart, and InfoWars, I'm not surprised it gets churned. Just checking through sources I had to block due to simply terribly ham-fisted propaganda attempts, here's other ones that show up on google news by default: Investor's Business Daily New York Post RealClearPolitics Screen Rant The Hill Washington Times nationalreview