Google’s Abuse of Information Access
Prior to reading this article, I didn’t expect as much bias in Google’s results (and I think it has improved in recent years). I think it’s easy for the average person to neglect the angle that Google is a company with considerable influence, not some benevolent institution merely out to provide the people with their rightful information. The Google search engine and other resources such as images and maps are such an integral part of our daily lives that we don’t really take the time to question them. We type something into Google to get an answer, but we don’t consider that all the answers listed on the first page could be biased by corporations who’ve bought their way to the top. The average Google user doesn’t consider whether or not they are getting the full perspective.
This bias in Google results is problematic because it could potentially warp the beliefs of the population when they are being relied on so heavily. At the very least, competition is being eliminated in many outlets around the world. In the worst case, we are being constantly directed by entities that may not have our best interests at heart. Despite the socioeconomic repercussions of this, Google seems to have a decent job of cleaning up some of the more unsavory results it was plagued with during the time of the article. However, the fetishization of non-white women is still an issue, but it is flying under the radar due to being presented in a cleaner format. Google hasn’t taken full responsibility for its problematic results, claiming that they were “computer-generated” and therefore, not the company’s fault. It seems they are skirting a dangerous line on abusing a profitable business at the expense of some morals, and are trying to shift the blame away from themselves. I think they need to more actively eliminate these gender biases from their search engine or be held accountable for it by higher authority.
