Tech giant Google has addressed concerns raised by prominent conservatives regarding its search autocomplete function, particularly its censorship of searches related to the recent attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump. The masters of the universe claims they are “working on improvements” including the autocomplete function.
Fortune reports that in response to allegations of election interference and search manipulation, Google has issued a statement addressing the controversy surrounding its autocomplete search results. The debate erupted when many users on X, formerly known as Twitter, including Elon Musk and Donald Trump Jr., posted images demonstrating that Google’s search engine was omitting certain politically sensitive topics from its autocomplete predictions.
The primary point of contention centered around searches related to the recent assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump. Breitbart News previously reported that users noted that when typing “assassination attempt on” into Google’s search bar, the auto-complete function did not suggest the recent incident involving Trump. Instead, it offered suggestions related to historical figures such as former President Ronald Reagan and musician Bob Marley.
In response to these allegations, a Google spokesperson provided clarification to Fortune magazine. The company stated that no “manual action” was taken on the auto-complete predictions and that they are “working on improvements” to the feature. Regarding the absence of suggestions related to the assassination attempt, Google explained that their systems have “protections against Auto-complete predictions associated with political violence,” which were functioning as intended prior to the recent event.
The spokesperson further elaborated on the “Donald Duck” search highlighted by Musk, acknowledging that “auto-complete is currently not working as intended” for searches related to past presidents and the current vice president. Google assured that they are investigating these anomalies and working on improvements to be implemented soon.
The controversy has sparked a broader discussion about the role of technology companies in information dissemination and their potential influence on political discourse. Critics, including several top GOP figures, accused Google of “gaslighting” and attempting to influence the 2024 presidential election through their search results.
Google emphasized that their autocomplete systems are dynamic and that predictions change based on common and trending queries. The company stated its commitment to ensuring their systems are more up-to-date and responsive to current events while maintaining safeguards against promoting violence.
Read more at Fortune here.
Lucas Nolan is a reporter for Breitbart News covering issues of free speech and online censorship.
