Google Yanks ‘Are Jews Evil?’ Search Suggestion
— Google has removed some of its search suggestions, including the phrase “are Jews evil,” which had been automatically generated by its search algorithm.
As of Monday, the phrase was no longer suggested to a user who typed in only the words “are Jews,” The Guardian reported.
Google also removed suggestions for other offensive search phrases pertaining to women that were brought up Sunday in a Guardian article. The phrase “are Muslims bad,” another wording brought up in the article, still appears when a user types in “are Muslims.”
“We took action within hours of being notified on Friday of the autocomplete results,” a Google spokesperson told The Guardian on Monday.
“Our search results are a reflection of the content across the web. This means that sometimes unpleasant portrayals of sensitive subject matter online can affect what search results appear for a given query. These results don’t reflect Google’s own opinions or beliefs – as a company, we strongly value a diversity of perspectives, ideas and cultures.
The spokesperson said the autocomplete predictions are generated algorithmically based on the search activity and interests of users.
“Users search for such a wide range of material on the web – 15% of searches we see every day are new. Because of this, terms that appear in autocomplete may be unexpected or unpleasant. We do our best to prevent offensive terms, like porn and hate speech, from appearing, but we acknowledge that autocomplete isn’t an exact science and we’re always working to improve our algorithms,” the spokesperson said.
Google took similar action last year when it removed anti-Semitic responses to the search phrase “Who runs Hollywood?”
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning journalism this Passover.
In this age of misinformation, our work is needed like never before. We report on the news that matters most to American Jews, driven by truth, not ideology.
At a time when newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall. That means for the first time in our 126-year history, Forward journalism is free to everyone, everywhere. With an ongoing war, rising antisemitism, and a flood of disinformation that may affect the upcoming election, we believe that free and open access to Jewish journalism is imperative.
Readers like you make it all possible. Right now, we’re in the middle of our Passover Pledge Drive and we still need 300 people to step up and make a gift to sustain our trustworthy, independent journalism.
Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
Only 300 more gifts needed by April 30
