Headline Roundup • July 24th, 2020

Google Denies Blacklisting Conservative Sites After Some Temporarily Vanish From Search Results

Google Bias,Media Bias,Technology,Conservatives

Summary from the AllSides News Team

An apparent glitch in Google's search engine occurred Tuesday, temporarily removing certain websites from its search results. The websites noted as being removed mostly included several popular conservative news sources, as well as at least one left-leaning news site. Google fixed the discrepancy later in the day; Google's SearchLiason Twitter account wrote that "contrary to some speculation, this [bug] did not target particular sites or political ideologies." Mediaite and National Interest are the only left- and center-rated sources to cover the incident as of Friday morning, while the news received prominent coverage from right-rated outlets. Many right-rated voices denounced Google as biased toward conservatives, accusing it of blacklisting right-leaning viewpoints and decrying its purported attempts to influence public opinion.

Featured Coverage of this Story

From the Left

Ex-Google Engineer Says Glitch Blocking Websites Including Drudge, Breitbart Could Have Revealed a Mysterious List

Mediaite

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Ex-Google Engineer Says Glitch Blocking Websites Including Drudge, Breitbart Could Have Revealed a Mysterious List

Mediaite

News

A Tuesday incident in which certain websites briefly vanished from Google search results may have inadvertently exposed an internal list aimed at suppressing certain news outlets, a former engineer for the company said.

“It appears to have revealed the existence of another blacklist that disproportionately targets conservatives,” Mike Wacker theorized in a message to Mediaite. “The glitch is that sites on this blacklist disappeared from Google search results, but the existence of the list is very much by design. And that raises a major question: Why was this blacklist created...

Open on Mediaite

Possible Paywall

From the Center

Google Denies “Blackout” of Conservative Sites

National Interest

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Google Denies “Blackout” of Conservative Sites

National Interest

Analysis

The word was spread throughout the day on Tuesday, that Google had taken some sort of action to demote leading politically conservative websites in its search results. Newsbusters alleged Tuesday that Google “has seemingly blacklisted numerous conservative websites,” listing Breitbart, The Washington Free Beacon, The Blaze, The Daily Wire and other top sites on the right.

Another reporter, Charlie Nash of Mediaite, posted about this as well, while also noting that some left-wing sites had also apparently disappeared from results.

By Tuesday night, the sites had all been restored to...

Open on National Interest

Possible Paywall

From the Right

Ex-engineer at tech giant says glitch which blocked some conservative websites from appearing in their search may have exposed a secret internal list which suppresses certain outlets

Daily Mail

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News

Google may have a 'secret blacklist' of conservative news outlets, a former engineer at the company has claimed, which he says was exposed on Tuesday when certain websites briefly vanished from Google search results.

Mike Wacker, a Google engineer who was fired from the company in June 2019 amid a row over his conservative ideology, said the brief incident on Tuesday suggested a 'blacklist'.

'It appears to have revealed the existence of another blacklist that disproportionately targets conservatives,' Wacker told Mediaite.

'The glitch is that sites on this blacklist disappeared...

Open on Daily Mail

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