Following President Trump’s decision to issue a travel ban on certain countries, including Iran, Libya, Venezuela, and North Korea, Google employees discussed ways to skew search results to favor pro-immigration views. Had their ideas been implemented, anyone searching “Trump travel ban” and related terms would have been shown ways to contribute to pro-immigration groups and how to contact their lawmakers.
Google claims that none of the ideas discussed were ever implemented. In the email chain, some employees expressed wariness of getting involved in politics. Trump had previously criticized the search engine, arguing that the search results reflect a liberal bias. Google, of course, vehemently denied the claim. If nothing else, the email chain suggests that the President did hareasons to be concerned over search results.
A company spokesperson claimed: “These emails were just a brainstorm of ideas, none of which were ever implemented. Google has never manipulated its search results or modified any of its products to promote a particular political ideology—not in the current campaign season, not during the 2016 election, and not in the aftermath of President Trump’s executive order on immigration. Our processes and policies would not have allowed for any manipulation of search results to promote political ideologies.”
Still, it is worrisome that Google employees even contemplated skewing search results. Further, because Google’s search algorithms are closely guarded secrets, it’s difficult to verify that the results are not skewed in some way. For now, we may simply have to take Google at their word. With the company responsible for more than 63 percent of searches in the United States, any skewing could impact society at large.
In fact, one study found that search results are 40 percent more likely to contain results from websites that lean left or far left. Given that 87 percent of people will turn to search engines first when they have a question, this left-leaning influence could have considerable influence on perceptions.
In the leaked emails, Google employees also discussed how to influence other searches, such as those related to anti-Islamic and anti-Hispanic sentiments. Apparently, Google employees wanted to actively counter anti-Islamic and anti-Hispanic prejudice.
As for me, while I disagree with President Trump’s travel ban and all forms of bigotry, I also find it unnerving that Google’s employees would even discuss manipulating search results. Companies shouldn’t try to leverage their assets to influence political outcomes and should instead remain fair and neutral.
