The internet is the ultimate source of all information. Search engines are what narrow down the massive amounts of information found on the web into manageable and specialized chunks.
Google, the most prominent search engine on the web, has recently started including drop down suggestion lists as searches are typed into the search bar. However, recently the following has happened:
Google's search Suggest function treats Islam a bit differently from the other major religions of the world. It's willing to suggest "Christianity is bullshit" or "Judaism is false," but if you begin to ask what Islam is, it won't suggest a thing.
Google says that this search oddity is a bug - and that its search gurus are working to fix it. But several days have passed since it was publicly uncovered.
As originally noticed by The Next Web blog, Suggest isn't shy about suggesting search queries that put several major religions in a less-the-favorable light. If you type, "Christianity is" into Google's search box, for instance, the web giant suggests queries such as "Christianity is bulls***," "Christianity is not a religion," "Christianity is a lie," and "Christianity is fake."
This is only what you'd expect. Suggest suggests queries based on what others have searched for in the past. If you type "Judaism is," "Hinduism is," or "Buddhism is," Google also provides a long list of suggestions - some with a negative bent, some not. But if you type "Islam is," you get nothing.
On January 5, Google told Search Engine Land that its Islam Suggest block is a bug, saying "We’re working to fix it as quickly as we can."
Six days seems like an awfully long time to fix what would seem to be a simple bug, but there you have it.
Another question worth asking: "If Google unblocks suggestions for 'Islam is,' will they then suggest links pointing out that Google blocks suggestions for 'Islam is?'"
One way or another, Google engineers will actively intervene - the company has said they will - and when they do, you wonder how far they will go. Just as you wonder how far they go in actively tweaking any of Google's search or ad results. Google search is run by algorithms, but algorithms are written by people. And these faceless engineers have more than a little control over what so much of the world sees when visiting the web.
A third question worth asking: "If Google is intentionally blocking certain suggestions for 'Islam is' - for whatever reason - would we ever know?"
So my question to you is: Do you think Google should censor religious content in their searches if it is too inflammatory or do you think that that would encroach on religious freedom of information and freedom of speech?
I think the risk in believing in anything is that it will be challenged. Religion evokes such strong emotions and opinions in people that people are bound to react in insensitive and offensive ways. I don't think it's Google, or any other search engine's, job to regulate things that are inflammatory. It definitely violates freedom of speech and religion, in my opinion. Plus, this is a double standard-if offensive things can be said about other religions then they should be allowed to be said about Islam. It's no less inflammatory to ridicule Christianity or Hinduism than Islam.
ReplyDeleteAs of today it looks like the bug has been fixed. "Islam is" brings up the same kind of suggestions such as "fake" or "bullsh*t." However, this was a very interesting blog post- good job!
ReplyDeleteTo answer your question-censorship is a touchy subject. Censorship in general takes away freedom (which isn't always bad. For example, I don't want tv producers to have the freedom to put porn on primetime network television.) The censor-guidelines always seems more grey, less black and white. Censoring this volume of information would be incredibly difficult to do and controversial as well. I think if I were to fight for censorship, I would be fighting a loosing battle, and I'm not sure I would want to win it anyway.
I agree with Jake, interesting and insightful post! Censorship is almost asking for people to go against the grain and really say things they shouldn't just for the mere fact that someone has put a cap on things. Censorship definitely encroaches on religious freedom as well as freedom of speech. It's up to the individual if they have a problem with a particular issue, religion, person, etc. as to whether or not they'd have enough tact to keep some comments, that have the potential to be censored, at ease. As for Google, they should either have some sort of generalized censor or no censor at all. Before the "Islam is..." problem was fixed, as aforementioned, it was almost as if they were afraid to have anything be said about Islam, but what about the other religions? If Christianity can be called "false" and "bullsh*t" so should Islam. So if they have bugs that appear to pick and choose what is censored, then there should be no censor at all.
ReplyDeleteI think this is a very interesting point. More interesting than just the fact that they do not include "Islam is..." when you search other religions, is that the drop down box is always filled with negative phrases and never positive phrases. I always thought that the drop down boxes were just what people searched the most, but I find it interesting that people would only commonly search for negative things about religion. That goes against what I would personally say as well as what we read in our book. This means that possibly Google takes more religious mattes into their own hands in making people search for those negative things rather than pointing out the good. I do not think they should censor religion online, however, I do feel that they should give equal rights to all their religions, which goes along with their mission statement. Not just equal right as to Christianity vs. Islam, but also good positive information vs. negative information.
ReplyDeleteI think it's nice to know that people can get all sorts of information with a single search. It has the potential to broadens horizons, and can't necessarily do harm (except for really bad stuff). And I don't think Google would ever care about censoring religious content. You can Google just about anything and get good things and smut. If they really could censor things properly they would censor things like porn sites that pop up from innocent searches like "the White House". People deserve the right to be heard and the Internet gives an outlet for that. Besides- Google has more important things to do with their time than to censor every little questionable topic.
ReplyDeleteSometimes I think it would nice if anti-mormon stuff didn't pop up when people search information on our church on the internet. However, that opposition is needed in the Plan of Salvation and protected under the 1st Amendment. We shouldn't get mad at Google. Instead, we should just put up more positive info on the web. We can also be an example by being kind to other religions in what we say online.
ReplyDeleteI, like Whitney, thought that Google just put up the most searched items, but she brought up the point that people probably do not just search negative things about religion, but when you look up "Islam is ...," "Mormon is ...," or even "Buddhism is...," all of the results almost all of the results are negative ones. This makes me wonder if Google is in fact just fostering negative feelings about religion due to a few who have searched these phrases.
ReplyDeleteMy husband was telling me that when you used to search "Mormon" on Google, the majority of the items on first page would be anti-Mormon sites. Now, there are only two web sites on the first page of results that are against the church.
I don't believe Google should have the power to censor religious information but I think religions should try to make it so that true information about their religion is out there on the web and try to have it so it comes up as one of the first or so results because I do think sometimes people just pick the first or second result when they are looking up information just for fun.
I think there is a difference between censoring what comes up for a suggestion in a google search and censoring content as a whole. I think it would be fine for google to censor the inflammatory content, if they did it for all religions. This does not mean that people cannot google these terms at all, but it simply means that google is not going to aid in the search by having it as a suggestion. I think it would have to be a moral decision made by the company.
ReplyDeleteOn the other hand, not censoring the searches, allows people to know what other people are searching for, and tops searches about that specific religion.
I don't see the censoring of inflammatory content a First Amendment violation, because in no way does it stop people from searching the terms they want, it just wouldn't aid in searches for inflammatory content.
I was thinking along the same lines as bmorgan. I think that the drop down suggestions are not a necessary part of a search and therefore do not hinder the process of seeking out information. People can still type in the rest of the phrase they choose to search for whether there is a suggestion or not. The point is that the information is available, not that it is suggested.
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