Most Irreal readers know I’m not—more precisely, no longer—a fan of Google. The usual reason that I give for that is the fact that Google gobbles up as much of our private information as it can. But there’s another reason that I don’t mention as often: Somewhere along the line, Google decided they should filter the information they present to me to eliminate anything they felt wasn’t good for me. I’m an adult and don’t need anybody deciding what I should and shouldn’t hear based on their opinion of the subject at hand.
I first started using Google because they gave the best search results available. Sure, they ranked the results but in a way that reflected which sites were most popular as reflected by the number of incoming links. Over time, that changed where a major—if not the major—deciding factor was whether the result was in accord with Google’s sense of what was “right and just”. In other words, whether or not a result was in agreement with the prevailing Google politics. Who wants that? It’s like reading Pravda: you get information but have no idea of how complete or truthful it is.
Happily, there was a solution for both problems: Duck Duck Go. They didn’t vacuum up our information and they were pretty much an honest broker giving us whatever data was out there. Now sadly, DDG has apparently decided that Google was right after all:
Like so many others I am sickened by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the gigantic humanitarian crisis it continues to create. #StandWithUkraine️
At DuckDuckGo, we’ve been rolling out search updates that down-rank sites associated with Russian disinformation.
— Gabriel Weinberg (@yegg) March 10, 2022
I get it. Everyone wants to do something to help the mess we find ourselves in but censorship is never the answer. We’re adults and can judge for ourselves what to believe and what to discount. We don’t need unknown functionaries deciding for us. Especially given the results of filtering “misinformation” that we’ve seen over the last couple of years. It’s shocking how many instances of “misinformation” were subsequently rehabilitated to be conventional wisdom. The people responsible for that are the last people I want telling me what to think.
If you’re a DDG user and want to get all the information available so you can make your own informed opinion, let DDG know that you’re not happy with this decision and ask them to reverse it.