Tag: google

Google Experiments With “Faster and More Adaptable” Censorship of “Harmful” Content Ahead of 2024 US Elections

In the run-up to the 2020 US presidential election, Big Tech engaged in unprecedented levels of election censorship, most notably by censoring the New York Post’s bombshell Hunter Biden laptop story just a few weeks before voters went to the polls.

And with the 2024 US presidential election less than a year away, both Google and its video sharing platform, YouTube, have confirmed that they plan to censor content they deem to be “harmful” in the run-up to the election.

In its announcement, Google noted that it already censors content that it deems to be “manipulated media” or “hate and harassment” — two broad, subjective terms that have been used by tech giants to justify mass censorship.

However, ahead of 2024, the tech giant has started using large language models (LLMs) to experiment with “building faster and more adaptable” censorship systems that will allow it to “take action even more quickly when new threats emerge.”

Google will also be censoring election-related responses in Bard (its generative AI chatbot) and Search Generative Experience (its generative AI search results).

In addition to these censorship measures, Google will be continuing its long-standing practice of artificially boosting content that it deems to be “authoritative” in Google Search and Google News. While this tactic doesn’t result in the removal of content, it can result in disfavored narratives being suppressed and drowned out by these so-called authoritative sources, which are mostly pre-selected legacy media outlets.

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Look How Google Shoos You Away From The Biden Family Biz And Other Big News

While fact-checking a Federalist article early Monday morning, I did a quick Google search for “hunter biden joe biden ‘an absolute wall.’”

It’s the language now-President Joe Biden used during the 2020 campaign to allege a separation between his vice-presidential duties and his son’s overseas work for the family business. It’s back in the news after the House Oversight Committee on Thursday asked the National Archives and Records Administration for unredacted communications containing three of Joe Biden’s vice presidential pseudonyms: Robert Peters, Robin Ware, and JRB Ware.

Google, however, apparently didn’t want me to find too much information — at least not from certain sources.

“It looks like the results below are changing quickly. If this topic is new, it can sometimes take time for reliable sources to publish information,” Google alerted me, prompting me to make sure the source is “trusted on this topic” and maybe just to “come back later.”

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“I Hope That We Succeed,” Man Suing Massachusetts Health Department For Silently Installing Covid Tracking App On His Phone Speaks Out

A plaintiff in a lawsuit against government “spyware” has shed more light on the situation. In a potentially far-reaching legal dispute, the Massachusetts Department of Public Health is being accused of covertly partnering with tech behemoth Google to clandestinely install COVID-tracing software onto as many as a million unsuspecting smartphone users. This was the claim being presented in a class-action lawsuit filed by the Washington-based New Civil Liberties Alliance.

The legal challenge alleges an explicit violation of both US and Massachusetts constitutional law. It targets not just the perceived breach of privacy but also the audacity of the health department’s actions. “Such brazen disregard for civil liberties violates both the United States and Massachusetts Constitutions, and it must stop now,” the suit asserts.

The case, filed in 2021, was raised on behalf of Massachusetts native Robert Wright and Johnny Kula from New Hampshire, who commutes daily into Massachusetts. The duo vehemently objects to the installation of the COVID-tracing app on their phones sans their explicit consent. Kula, in particular, alleged that his attempt to delete the app proved futile as it surreptitiously resurfaced on his device.

“I hope that we succeed, and this sets a precedent, and that, in the future, no government even considers tracking Americans’ movements 24/7 without their knowledge or consent,” Wright said in a recent statement.

Originally conceived amidst the COVID pandemic’s height, Apple and Google jointly developed a contact tracing system. This system used a smartphone’s Bluetooth capabilities to alert users of potential proximity to an infected individual. An alert from an infected person’s phone could prompt nearby app users to take a COVID test.

The lawsuit asserts that the state’s health department colluded with Google to create a version to be forcefully installed on all Android phones, unbeknownst to the owners.

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Google Likes To Say Fact-Checkers It Uses Are “Independent.” But It Also Funds Them.

In a world where censorship dons the cloak of fact-checking, the recent allocation of grants by the Global Fact Check Fund raises brows. The fund, which is a joint effort of the International Fact-Checking Network (IFCN) housed at the Poynter Institute and the technology behemoth Google, along with its subsidiary YouTube, has been touted as a guardian of truth. With $875,000 in grants divided among 35 organizations across 45 countries, it aims to arm them with modern websites, manpower, and training to identify misinformation. However, the initiative comes with its own set of problematic undertones.

The broad strokes painted by the fund’s mission statement include terms such as “increasing quality, volume, frequency, scale, and impact of fact-checking abilities” – a seemingly lofty aim. The IFCN’s director, Angie Drobnic Holan, frames it as a crusade against misinformation, stating, “Misinformation is on the march in many parts of the world. This important funding will enable fact-checking organizations to become better at their work, stronger in their capabilities and wider in their reach.”

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Harvard Researchers Expose Google Targeting and Manipulating the Minds of Children

With the curtain pulled back on the Twitter files this year, the gears of the debate machine have been grinding relentlessly on the topic of censorship and perceived liberal establishment bias within social-media behemoths like Twitter and Facebook. And while they’ve undoubtedly earned their place in the critical spotlight, the focus on them has allowed a far more devious predator to lurk largely unchecked in the shadows: Google. Recent revelations cast a disturbing light on the truth — it’s not just invading our privacy and appropriating our data — it’s aggressively targeting the impressionable minds of children.

Enter stage left, Harvard Ph.D., Californian Democrat, and research psychologist Dr. Robert Epstein, who has dedicated the better part of a decade to illuminating the murky underbelly of Google’s Machiavellian manipulation strategies, sweeping up everything from newsfeeds to search results, and even YouTube suggestions. The insights gleaned from his pioneering research, which he recently shared with The NY Post, provide an unnerving look at the disturbing degree to which Google wields its power to manipulate the collective mindset and steer election results in a direction that conveniently aligns with its liberal corporate agenda.

Despite its continued denials before Congress, this trillion-dollar tech titan exploits its unparalleled monopoly in the search engine domain to inflate liberal ideologies, stifle conservative voices, and most alarmingly, manipulate the malleable minds of our children.

When we consider the facts, the grim reality of manipulation packs a powerful punch. Remember the controversial suppression of The Post’s Hunter Biden laptop stories by Twitter and Facebook? Well, that’s just the iceberg’s tip. Consider this: what about the jaw-dropping 6 million votes covertly swayed in Joe Biden’s favor during the 2020 election by Google via its calculated online content manipulation? Epstein points an accusing finger at Google, alleging it used biased algorithms to shape search results and slanted Get Out The Vote messages primarily to court Democrat voters.

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Google Co-Founder Larry Page Vanishes as Authorities Try to Subpoena Him in Jeffrey Epstein Investigation

The intrigue behind the shadowy sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein somehow continues to climax, despite his untimely “suicide” in a New York jail cell almost four years ago.

Via Daily Mail:

The US Virgin Islands is unable to subpoena Google co-founder Larry Page over potential ties to Jeffrey Epstein because he cannot be physically located, federal court filings reveal.

A motion filed by the attorney general for the US Virgin Islands said investigators tried to identify a physical address at which Page, 50, could be personally summoned to appear in a court.

After identifying four possible addresses, none of which were ‘valid’, prosecutors are requesting the federal government allow Page to be summoned via Alphabet, Google’s parent company, as he is still a member of its board.

It seems there are two potential explanations for Mr. Page’s disappearing act: either he himself doesn’t want to testify because of personal fears of what crimes it might implicate him in, or someone or something else doesn’t want Mr. Page discussing what he knows about Jeffrey Epstein’s activities.

I recently made a half-serious petition for Elon Musk to slap a Twitter “red check” on all known Jeffrey Epstein associates. When this ordeal is said and done, there might be a new Silicon Valley tech overlord to add to the list.

The subpoena efforts are part of the ongoing Virgin Islands prosecution of JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon, implicating the highest level of multinational banking as potential accomplices in the years-long trafficking ring.

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‘Godfather of AI’ quits Google — and says he regrets life’s work due to risks to humanity

A prominent artificial intelligence researcher known as the “Godfather of AI” has quit his job at Google – and says he now partly regrets his work advancing the burgeoning technology because of the risks it poses to society.

Dr. Geoffrey Hinton is a renowned computer scientist who is widely credited with laying the AI groundwork that eventually led to the creation of popular chatbots such as OpenAI’s ChatGPT and other advanced systems.

The 75-year-old told the New York Times that he left Google so that he can speak openly about the risks of unrestrained AI development – including the spread of misinformation, upheaval in the jobs market and other, more nefarious possibilities.

“I console myself with the normal excuse: If I hadn’t done it, somebody else would have,” Hinton said in an interview published on Monday.

“Look at how it was five years ago and how it is now,” Hinton added later in the interview. “Take the difference and propagate it forwards. That’s scary.”

Hinton fears that AI will only become more dangerous in the future — with “bad actors” potentially exploiting advanced systems “for bad things” that will be difficult to prevent.

Hinton informed Google of his plans to resign last month and personally spoke last Thursday with company CEO Sundar Pichai, according to the report. The computer scientist did not reveal what he and Pichai discussed during the phone call.

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Uh-Oh: Feds Say Google ‘Systematically Destroyed’ Evidence for Years by Auto-Deleting Employee Chats

Google’s reliance on commonly used messaging systems that automatically delete conversations after a day has landed the company in hot water with the Department of Justice.

In a filing Thursday evening, the DOJ accused Google of using so-called “history off” communications that they say “routinely destroyed” written communication after 24 hours. Some of those destroyed chats, the DOJ alleges, may have discussed “sensitive topics.” That’s a bad look as the tech giant faces not one, but two antitrust investigations by the nation’s leading law enforcement division.

“For nearly four years, Google systematically destroyed an entire category of written communications every 24 hours.” the DOJ alleges.

These “history off” chats—also referred to as off the record chats—allegedly occurred on Google Hangouts and instant messages. To Google’s credit, anyone who uses Google communications, even outside the company, has the ability to have their communications automatically deleted after 24 hours. Not everyone is under investigation from the feds though. In its filing,the DOJ claims Google use of history of chats, maliciously or not, may run afoul of laws requiring companies to preserve communications for litigation.

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Google project is running “prebunking experiment” on social media

Who better than Google to “uphold technology as a force for good” – all joking aside, but that is exactly how the tech behemoth presents Jigsaw, its unit that “explores threats to open societies, and builds technology that inspires scalable solutions.”

According to a blog post, the latest such solution is “the largest prebunking experiment on social media to date” launched in September, with the goal of “countering the threat of disinformation.” Speaking of jigsaws – this also appears to be a piece in the puzzle that is the fierce “war on disinformation” that is being waged by Big Tech and traditional media.

“Prebunking” could be described as “precrime’s little cousin” – it means debunking what is deemed to be lies, tactics or sources before they happen/can act. Developing effective ways to do this can be a force for good – or evil, and so given its track record with censorship, Google (via Jigsaw) conducting this kind of experiment is sure to raise a few eyebrows.

Perhaps to make the whole thing more palatable, Jigsaw tied this effort to an actual war – that in Ukraine – and explains the need to test “prebunking” techniques as a way to protect refugees.

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Pelosis Sold Google Stock One Month Before DOJ Announced Antitrust Lawsuit

Democratic California Rep. Nancy Pelosi and her husband, Paul, unloaded more than $1.5 million in Alphabet stock one month before the Department of Justice announced an antitrust lawsuit against the tech giant.

The Pelosis sold 30,000 shares of Alphabet, the holding company for Google and several other firms, on Dec. 20, 21, and 28. They received between $1.5 million and $3 million for the total sale, netting capital gains of more than $600, according to a financial disclosure form Pelosi, filed on Jan. 12. The DOJ announced its lawsuit against Alphabet on Tuesday.

Pelosi’s office did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller’s request for comment on the matter.

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