6 ms·

It is pretty obvious that things like search results are manipulated to fit an agenda. Search Google Images for "white american family" and "black american fami

It is pretty obvious that things like search results are manipulated to fit an agenda. Search Google Images for "white american family" and "black american family" and compare the results. You can replace "black american family" with indian or any other group and the results are similar. There are many interracial couples under "white american family" and none under "black american family". The only way I can explain this is there is manipulation of the algorithm to fit a certain perspective. I don't think there is anything wrong with interracial families but I do think it is concerning that our search results are being subtly manipulated like this without most people knowing.

pwinnski 7y ago
That's the only way you can explain this? Really? This is a popular exercise on the internet, but there are any number of explanations for this that are satisfied entirely by understanding how any search index works.
- imbored 7y ago
  It's a white supremacist talking point. Don't bother.
b_tterc_p 7y ago
> The only way I can explain this is there is manipulation of the algorithm to fit a certain perspective. Unless... the two search terms have different distributions in their raw, unbiased results which seems completely plausible to me.
codingslave 7y ago
This is happening all over American society
arkades 7y ago
Out of curiousity I did just that. And aside from skin tone, I got identical sets of people in khakis and button-downs hugging in front of houses, white picket fences, and couches. And found interracial families under black, but not white. Something something anecdote not data.
- solotronics 7y ago
  compare these I just did it again http://i68.tinypic.com/213nty.jpg http://i68.tinypic.com/213nty.jpg http://i67.tinypic.com/fnqoib.jpg http://i67.tinypic.com/fnqoib.jpg http://i65.tinypic.com/20krl6p.jpg http://i65.tinypic.com/20krl6p.jpg
- solotronics 7y ago
  This is weird also, why would you be shown different results than me? If search was unbiased wouldn't we all be getting the same results?
untog 7y ago
Taken from a Reddit thread: "If you're talking about this picture, it is tagged as "white" because of the background colour." As usual, Occam's Razor applies here. Just imagine for a second that Google sent out a specific instruction to employees that they wanted to alter the algorithm so that a search for "white american family" returns mixed-race couples. Imagine the number of employees that would see a code commit like that, or otherwise be involved in the decision. Do you really think that not a single person would have blown the whistle?
- cheese4242 7y ago
  Not related to OP's specific example, but very recently a Google employee came forward and blew the whistle on Google intentionally biasing their algorithms to sway public opinion : https://www.theblaze.com/newsletters/wtf-msm-google-whistleblower-reveals-himself-and-googles-attempts-to-sway-elections https://www.theblaze.com/newsletters/wtf-msm-google-whistleb...
  - untog 7y ago
    He hasn't actually presented any meaningful evidence and is a kook that believes in QAnon. So excuse me if I'm more than a little dubious of his claims. https://www.thedailybeast.com/james-okeefes-google-whistleblower-loves-qanon-accused-zionists-of-running-the-government https://www.thedailybeast.com/james-okeefes-google-whistlebl...
    - cheese4242 7y ago
      Well he handed over 950 pages of docs and a laptop to the Department of Justice so we just might find out.
      - eclipxe 7y ago
        The 950 pages were posted to Project Veritas. I read each single doc. It was a load of nothing. Not a single piece of evidence that points to his claims.
      - 7y ago
fromthestart 7y ago
Project veritas leaked a candid, hidden camera chat with Google's Head of Responsible Innovation, Jen Gennai, where, essentially, she and an engineer shamelessly describe using ML to manipulate search results to better align them with the reality that they would like society to adopt, i.e., a strongly left leaning agenda. Among other topics, she specifically mentioned that Google is working against "another 2016 situation" (regarding the election of Trump). The clips in this video stand on their own-there is no context which mitigates the fact that Google is injecting political bias into its search results. In an interview with a whistleblower in the same video[1], claims of blacklisted autocomplete terms are also implied to be part of search curation. Given Google's status as the defacto gateway to information for the majority of the first world, this kind of meddling with queries and query results should be cause for concern, regardless of one's political leaning. Ironically, the video was taken down from YouTube. Note: I don't appreciate the bias of the following source either, but the content is damning on its own. 1.https://www.projectveritas.com/2019/06/24/insider-blows-whistle-exec-reveals-google-plan-to-prevent-trump-situation-in-2020-on-hidden-cam/ https://www.projectveritas.com/2019/06/24/insider-blows-whis...
- imbored 7y ago
  Project veritas routinely edits videos. Don't fall for fascist propaganda.
- eclipxe 7y ago
  The content is not damning at all and the "2016 situation" is clearly taken out of context - it is referring to Russian manipulation and fake news.
ptx 7y ago
Another subtle manipulation you might unknowingly be exposed to is the word "interracial" itself and the notion of using it to classify people. Growing up in Europe, I have only ever heard of this concept from Americans and it continues to baffle me why it would be a useful distinction to make. The word seems to imply the segregation of people of different "races".
- DoreenMichele 7y ago
  America has a history of defining "black" as being as little as 1/8 African blood. You can be 7/8 white European heritage and be "black" in America. Historically, it was illegal in much of the US for a white person and black person to marry. It's just a raft load of nonsense rooted in the detail that America imported slaves from Africa, then used skin color to distinguish free from slave. It hasn't really fully died. We are still living with a lot of those mental models in new guises.

pwinnski 7y ago

That's the only way you can explain this? Really? This is a popular exercise on the internet, but there are any number of explanations for this that are satisfied entirely by understanding how any search index works.

imbored 7y ago
It's a white supremacist talking point. Don't bother.

b_tterc_p 7y ago

> The only way I can explain this is there is manipulation of the algorithm to fit a certain perspective. Unless... the two search terms have different distributions in their raw, unbiased results which seems completely plausible to me.

codingslave 7y ago

This is happening all over American society

arkades 7y ago

Out of curiousity I did just that. And aside from skin tone, I got identical sets of people in khakis and button-downs hugging in front of houses, white picket fences, and couches. And found interracial families under black, but not white. Something something anecdote not data.

solotronics 7y ago
compare these I just did it again http://i68.tinypic.com/213nty.jpg http://i68.tinypic.com/213nty.jpg http://i67.tinypic.com/fnqoib.jpg http://i67.tinypic.com/fnqoib.jpg http://i65.tinypic.com/20krl6p.jpg http://i65.tinypic.com/20krl6p.jpg
solotronics 7y ago
This is weird also, why would you be shown different results than me? If search was unbiased wouldn't we all be getting the same results?

untog 7y ago

Taken from a Reddit thread: "If you're talking about this picture, it is tagged as "white" because of the background colour." As usual, Occam's Razor applies here. Just imagine for a second that Google sent out a specific instruction to employees that they wanted to alter the algorithm so that a search for "white american family" returns mixed-race couples. Imagine the number of employees that would see a code commit like that, or otherwise be involved in the decision. Do you really think that not a single person would have blown the whistle?

cheese4242 7y ago
Not related to OP's specific example, but very recently a Google employee came forward and blew the whistle on Google intentionally biasing their algorithms to sway public opinion : https://www.theblaze.com/newsletters/wtf-msm-google-whistleblower-reveals-himself-and-googles-attempts-to-sway-elections https://www.theblaze.com/newsletters/wtf-msm-google-whistleb...
- untog 7y ago
  He hasn't actually presented any meaningful evidence and is a kook that believes in QAnon. So excuse me if I'm more than a little dubious of his claims. https://www.thedailybeast.com/james-okeefes-google-whistleblower-loves-qanon-accused-zionists-of-running-the-government https://www.thedailybeast.com/james-okeefes-google-whistlebl...
  - cheese4242 7y ago
    Well he handed over 950 pages of docs and a laptop to the Department of Justice so we just might find out.
    - eclipxe 7y ago
      The 950 pages were posted to Project Veritas. I read each single doc. It was a load of nothing. Not a single piece of evidence that points to his claims.
    - 7y ago

fromthestart 7y ago

Project veritas leaked a candid, hidden camera chat with Google's Head of Responsible Innovation, Jen Gennai, where, essentially, she and an engineer shamelessly describe using ML to manipulate search results to better align them with the reality that they would like society to adopt, i.e., a strongly left leaning agenda. Among other topics, she specifically mentioned that Google is working against "another 2016 situation" (regarding the election of Trump). The clips in this video stand on their own-there is no context which mitigates the fact that Google is injecting political bias into its search results. In an interview with a whistleblower in the same video[1], claims of blacklisted autocomplete terms are also implied to be part of search curation. Given Google's status as the defacto gateway to information for the majority of the first world, this kind of meddling with queries and query results should be cause for concern, regardless of one's political leaning. Ironically, the video was taken down from YouTube. Note: I don't appreciate the bias of the following source either, but the content is damning on its own. 1.https://www.projectveritas.com/2019/06/24/insider-blows-whistle-exec-reveals-google-plan-to-prevent-trump-situation-in-2020-on-hidden-cam/ https://www.projectveritas.com/2019/06/24/insider-blows-whis...

imbored 7y ago
Project veritas routinely edits videos. Don't fall for fascist propaganda.
eclipxe 7y ago
The content is not damning at all and the "2016 situation" is clearly taken out of context - it is referring to Russian manipulation and fake news.

ptx 7y ago

Another subtle manipulation you might unknowingly be exposed to is the word "interracial" itself and the notion of using it to classify people. Growing up in Europe, I have only ever heard of this concept from Americans and it continues to baffle me why it would be a useful distinction to make. The word seems to imply the segregation of people of different "races".

DoreenMichele 7y ago
America has a history of defining "black" as being as little as 1/8 African blood. You can be 7/8 white European heritage and be "black" in America. Historically, it was illegal in much of the US for a white person and black person to marry. It's just a raft load of nonsense rooted in the detail that America imported slaves from Africa, then used skin color to distinguish free from slave. It hasn't really fully died. We are still living with a lot of those mental models in new guises.