Google Not Fighting Holocaust Deniers in Search Results

But company says it rarely removes content from search results
By Jenn Gidman,  Newser Staff
Posted Dec 13, 2016 1:02 PM CST
Google Not Fighting Holocaust Deniers in Search Results
Ugh.   (Google)

Stormfront has the dubious distinction, via the Southern Poverty Law Center, of being "the first major hate site on the Internet." That online longevity has also helped it earn the top spot in Google's search results when users type "Did the Holocaust happen" into the search field, but it's Google's reaction to the outcry over this fact that Gizmodo calls "far more concerning." Carole Cadwalladr of the Guardian spotted the white supremacist site at the top of the search results for that question, with the No. 1 result turning up Stormfront's "Top 10 reasons why the Holocaust didn't happen." She's written before on how neo-Nazi and other right-wing sites have "gamed Google's algorithm" to their advantage and evolved into a "vast and growing ecosystem that is encroaching on the mainstream news and information infrastructure like a cancer."

A search engine expert tells Cadwalladr "something has gone terribly wrong with Google's algorithm," but Google apparently isn't planning any changes. A company rep told Fortune that while Google is "saddened" about hate groups, search results don't imply a Google endorsement, and the company "[does] not remove content from our search results, except in very limited cases" There's been outrage over both the search results and Google's shoulder shrug, though at least one person finds it amusing. "Oy Vey! Call the ADL…...," ex-KKK head David Duke sarcastically tweeted. One person on Twitter has come up with a possible workaround: Click on different results other than Stormfront's so that the group's results get pushed down the search result ladder. (Read Cadwalladr's column on how she thinks Google is "profiting from Holocaust denial.")

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