In the present day, any belief someone has can be confirmed within seconds based on a quick google search. In this article, this concept is discussed. No matter how outlandish a claim is, it can be confirmed on google instantaneously, causing people to believe it – regardless of the credibility of the news source. The algorithms these untrustworthy websites use mimic those of credible websites, causing them to be at the forefront of google searches to spread their propaganda. The author of this article continuously mentions the experience he had where he typed “are Jews…” and one of the recommended searches ended that question with ‘evil’. He was surprised at this because it was not even on his mind to search for this, but because it popped right up, he felt compelled to click it.
The article calls this battle between credible websites and their competitors of fake news an “information war”. This article was easy to understand and caused me to think about a moral question: does it prohibit freedom of speech for search engines like Google to limit the information posted on their engine to diminish websites that spread fake news? Although it would be difficult, perhaps there should be some type of warning when clicking on websites that do not use credible sources to warn the viewers.
In the present day, any belief someone has can be confirmed within seconds based on a quick google search. In this article, this concept is discussed. No matter how outlandish a claim is, it can be confirmed on google instantaneously, causing people to believe it – regardless of the credibility of the news source. The algorithms these untrustworthy websites use mimic those of credible websites, causing them to be at the forefront of google searches to spread their propaganda. The author of this article continuously mentions the experience he had where he typed “are Jews…” and one of the recommended searches ended that question with ‘evil’. He was surprised at this because it was not even on his mind to search for this, but because it popped right up, he felt compelled to click it.
The article calls this battle between credible websites and their competitors of fake news an “information war”. This article was easy to understand and caused me to think about a moral question: does it prohibit freedom of speech for search engines like Google to limit the information posted on their engine to diminish websites that spread fake news? Although it would be difficult, perhaps there should be some type of warning when clicking on websites that do not use credible sources to warn the viewers.
Hi Talia, I also read this article and had the same question of whether certain platforms would violate freedom of speech by censoring their platforms. While I think it’s really important that websites make sure they prevent the spread of misinformation, I also think it would be extremely challenging and would face a lot of backlash. Although, I question why as we should all want to be presented with the most reliable and fact-checked information when it comes to sensitive topics like this.