*Apparently, Mark Zuckerberg and Facebook aren’t the only ones facing internet controversy from the political right over alleged digital manipulation.
According to Fox News, Google‘s search engine was recently found to bring up a picture and link to the presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump when users input “when was Hitler born” into the search.
In addition to Donald Trump Trump, more ‘similar’ results that also showed up were Eva Braun, Hitler’s wife, and Charlie Chaplin, who famously played the role of a satirical Hitler in the 1940 movie “The Great Dictator.”
Recent estimates suggest that there are more than 100 billion searches being conducted around the world each month. This is just the latest controversy involving the conservative/Republican seemingly on the receiving end of some internet manipulation. As previously mentioned, Zuckerberg and Facebook came under fire earlier this year when it was discovered they may have been intentionally suppressing conservative news outlets and stories from trending and gaining traction.
For their part, Google responded to the claims, which were sparked primarily from users on the online forum site Reddit, by saying they had no idea why Trump’s picture was showing up in results alongside Hitler and took measures to remove it.
This is actually the second time this month Google has had to answer questions about its search engine and the political influence it may or may not be attempting to wield. In a separate incident, Google’s “auto-complete” feature was found to be potentially ignoring less-than-favorable, but presumably more popular search requests, about presumptive Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton.
Instead of the more critical phrases search engines like Bing and Yahoo! would complete when “Hillary Clinton” was typed, Google auto-completed with much more positive phrases. The tech giant rebuffed these claims as well.
“Google Autocomplete does not favor any candidate or cause,” the company said in a statement emailed to FoxNews.com. “Claims to the contrary simply misunderstand how Autocomplete works. Our Autocomplete algorithm will not show a predicted query that is offensive or disparaging when displayed in conjunction with a person’s name.”
Yet while Google can remove pictures or comment on its algorithm, it can’t change public opinion.
Trump, already a divisive figure, has held a number of controversial rallies throughout the nation in his bid for the White House. Although Black Lives Matter activists have decried Trump’s platform and demonstrated at these events, supporters of the “Apprentice” mogul haven’t exactly responded favorably to the #BLM movement.
And while Hillary Clinton may see a number of “disparaging” results pages in some search engines, she did just win Oprah Winfrey’s endorsement for the highest office in the land.
It seems the heat is starting to pick up on all fronts in the Presidential race just in time for the summer swelter.
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