An internal briefing produced by Google and leaked exclusively to Breitbart News portrays President Trump as a conspiracy theorist.
The briefing, titled “The Good Censor,” argues that Google and other tech platforms must abandon their commitment to the “American tradition” of free speech if they wish to continue global expansion and appease advertisers. It can be read in full below.
A Google spokeswoman said the document should be considered internal research, and not an official company position.
According to the briefing itself, it was the product of an extensive process involving “several layers of research,” including expert interviews with MIT Tech Review editor-in-chief Jason Pontin, Atlantic staff writer Franklin Foer, and academic Kalev Leetaru. 35 cultural observers and 7 cultural leaders from seven countries on five continents were also consulted to produce it.
One of the reasons the document cites for alleged public disillusionment with free speech on the web (“users are asking if the openness of the internet should be celebrated after all,” claims the briefing) is the fact that it allows “conspiracy theories” to spread.
The example Google uses to highlight “conspiracy theories” on social media is a 2016 tweet from then-candidate Donald Trump, alleging that Google search suppressed negative results about Hillary Clinton. The example appears on page 49 of the briefing.
At the time, Google said that it suppressed negative autocomplete suggestions about everybody, not just Clinton. But it was comparatively easy to find such autocomplete results when searching for Bernie Sanders or Donald Trump. Independent research from psychologist Dr. Robert Epstein shows that Google searches did indeed favor Clinton in 2016.
The document did not address the fact that the impact of foreign “bots” and propaganda on social media has a negligible impact on voters, according to leading political psychologists.
Read The Good Censor in full below:
The Good Censor – GOOGLE LEAK by on Scribd
Allum Bokhari is the senior technology correspondent at Breitbart News. You can follow him on Twitter, Gab.ai and add him on Facebook. Email tips and suggestions to allumbokhari@protonmail.com.
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