Left-leaning websites that advocate for Social Justice, proletariat revolutions, Marxism, American-Democratic Liberalism, and classical Socialism, have supposedly been hit hard by Google’s latest “Authority” algorithm that was put into effect earlier in 2017, according to self-proclaimed Socialist website WSWS, which is also a Trotskyist media publication.
WSWS, which stands for World Socialist Web Site, penned an open-letter on August 25th, 2017, which contains a convincing measure of data about downward trends that have affected the site’s web search rankings on Google.
They point out that after April, 2017, for certain politically themed search terms, their website has been filtered out of 97% of those search queries.
The open-letter to Google’s executives makes it clear that they don’t like having their content filtered from the search engine, with WSWS’ international editorial board director, David North, writing…
“Censorship on this scale is political blacklisting. The obvious intent of Google’s censorship algorithm is to block news that your company does not want reported and to suppress opinions with which you do not agree. Political blacklisting is not a legitimate exercise of whatever may be Google’s prerogatives as a commercial enterprise. It is a gross abuse of monopolistic power. What you are doing is an attack on freedom of speech.”
North goes on to list various examples of search terms to back up this point, explaining that Google is favoring corporate and established mainstream media in place of alternative media in the search results. He also writes that Google is using its algorithm along with human “evaluators” to misidentify websites by claiming that their content contains “conspiracy theories” and “fake news”, all so that they can lower the site’s page rank or filter out impressions of the site on the search engine.
North explains…
“[Google] explained that the blacklists created by these evaluators will be used, in combination with the latest developments in technology, to develop an algorithm that will impose censorship automatically, in real time, across future search results. […]
“[…] Far from protecting readers from “unexpected” responses to their search requests, Google is manipulating its algorithm to make sure that the left-wing and progressive segment of their users, who would be most interested in the World Socialist Web Site, will not find it.”
It’s not just WSWS that has been affected. The website notes that various other Alt-Left, self-proclaimed Progressive Left, Socialist sites, and Left-leaning Liberal sites – typically all classified under the Social Justice Warrior moniker – have all fallen down the search grid by the double digits. They list the drop-off in percentages within the open letter.
- alternet.org fell by 63 percent
- globalresearch.ca fell by 62 percent
- consortiumnews.com fell by 47 percent
- mediamatters.org fell by 42 percent
- commondreams.org fell by 37 percent
- internationalviewpoint.org fell by 36 percent
- democracynow.org fell by 36 percent
- wikileaks.org fell by 30 percent
- truth-out.org fell by 25 percent
- counterpunch.org fell by 21 percent
- theintercept.com fell by 19 percent
The WSWS allege that based on the data, Google is rigging the results against SJW websites, writing…
“The facts prove that Google is rigging search results to blacklist and censor the WSWS and other left-wing publications. This raises a very serious question, with far-reaching constitutional implications.”
It’s not just websites that Google is using as a way to deter viewers from accessing certain kinds of content, they’re also using demonetization blacklists for YouTube channels as well, which has even reached the entertainment sector, affecting content creators making videos for products like Destiny 2.
While some people might dismiss the data presented by WSWS, their claims of search engine manipulation is not one of conspiracy. Google was recently fined $2.7 billion for committing antitrust violations under the European Union rules, as reported by The Straits Times.
Google was also recently censured by the Electronic Frontier Foundation for banning and censoring website The Daily Stormer, as the organization felt that what Google and other hosting sites was doing was extremely dangerous and censoring websites for having politically incorrect views would eventually lead to censoring sites with politically correct views.
Finding out that certain alternative media websites are also being unfairly targeted by Google’s search engine results or AI-governed blacklists, fits in line with the company’s current agenda in curbing “hate speech” and “terrorist content”, along with filtering out content that they deem as “extremist” and “supremacist”, whether it be religious, scientific, or political.
(Main image courtesy of Gutenburg Videos)
