Please donot send me e.mail, i am not a teacher. On 8/28/17, IT for Change - Education <[email protected]> wrote: > must read .... to be alert to how we may be fooled by the internet > Guru > > ---------- Forwarded message ---------- > From: IT for Change - Education <[email protected]> > Date: Mon, Aug 28, 2017 at 3:45 PM > Subject: Google is not ‘just’ a search engine or a platform. It frames, > shapes and distorts how we see the world > To: [email protected] > Cc: [email protected] > > > [image: Inline image 1] > > Source - https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/dec/11/ > google-frames-shapes-and-distorts-how-we-see-world > theguardian.com > > > > *Google is not ‘just’ a platform. It frames, shapes and distorts how we see > the worldDid the Holocaust really happen? No. The Holocaust did not really > happen. Six million Jews did not die. It is a Jewish conspiracy theory > spread by vested interests to obscure the truth. The truth is that there is > no evidence any people were gassed in any camp. The Holocaust did not > happen.* > Are you happy with that answer? Happy that if you have children, this is > what they’re being exposed to? That all across America and France and > Hungary and Holland and Britain, when people ask that question, this is > what they are clicking on and reading and absorbing? No? Well, then, we > really, really need to talk about Google. Right now. Because these are the > “facts” of what happened according to the number one source of information > to the entire planet. Type this into your Google search bar: “did the hol”. > And Google suggests you search for this: “Did the Holocaust happen?” > > And this is the answer: no. The top result is a link to stormfront.org, a > neo-Nazi site and an article entitled: “Top 10 reasons why the Holocaust > didn’t happen”. The third result is the article “The Holocaust Hoax; IT > NEVER HAPPENED”. The fifth is “50 reasons why the Holocaust didn’t happen.” > The seventh is a YouTube video “Did the Holocaust really happen?” The ninth > is “Holocaust Against Jews is a Total Lie – Proof.” > > This is what Danny Sullivan, the editor of SearchEngineLand, a leading > expert on Google search, means when he says “something has gone terribly > wrong with Google’s algorithm”. Stormfront describes itself as “the voice > of the new, embattled white minority… a community of racial realists and > idealists”. It’s the kind of site that Gideon Falter, the chair of the > Campaign Against Antisemitism, says is being used to radicalise a new > generation of extreme, violent, rightwing individuals. It’s where Anders > Breivik used to hang out online. It’s where, on its discussion forum, users > gathered to celebrate the murder of Jo Cox. > > And, according to Google, it’s the most authoritative source on the > internet on the “question” of whether or not the Holocaust actually > happened. Sceptical, educated people will of course look for other > evidence. These are the searches that Google lists at the bottom of the > page as suggestions for what to search next: “Holocaust never happened > theory” “proof the Holocaust happened” “Holocaust fake proof” “Holocaust > never happened movie” “Holocaust didn’t happen conspiracy” “did the > Holocaust happen during ww2.” > > A week ago I wrote in the Observer about how rightwing websites have > successfully colonised a vast swathe of the internet. About how they have > gamed Google’s algorithm. About how Jonathan Albright, an associate > professor at Elon University in the US, had mapped them to show how they > have become a vast and growing ecosystem that is encroaching on the > mainstream news and information infrastructure like a cancer. How Google, > with all its money and resources, is being owned by hate sites who have > hijacked its search results. > > One week on, Google is still quietly pretending there’s nothing wrong, > while surreptitiously going in and fixing the most egregious examples we > published last week. It refused to comment on the search results I found – > such as the autocomplete suggestion that “jews are evil”, with eight of its > 10 top results confirming they are – and, instead, hand-tweaked a handful > of the results. Or as, we call it in the media, it “edited” them. It did > this without acknowledging there was any problem or explaining the basis on > which it is altering its results, or why, or what its future editorial > policy will be. Its search box is no longer suggesting that Jews are still > evil but it’s still suggesting “Islam should be destroyed”. And, it is > spreading and broadcasting the information as fact. > > This is hate speech. It’s lies. It’s racist propaganda. And Google is > disseminating it. It is what the data scientist Cathy O’Neil calls a > “co-conspirator”. And so are we. Because what happens next is entirely down > to us. This is our internet. And we need to make a decision: do we believe > it’s acceptable to spread hate speech, to promulgate lies as the world > becomes a darker, murkier place? > > Because Google is only beyond the reach of the law if it we allow it to be. > It’s selling ads against these searches. It’s profiting from Holocaust > denial. Its algorithm is helping Stormfront reach new recruits – the next > generation of Thomas Mairs and Breiviks – all the while adding to its > bottom line, its quarterly profits. This week, Chi Onwurah, the shadow > secretary of state for culture, media and sport tweeted her concern about > the subject but noted “I’m sure @google will argue they aren’t responsible > for the results”. > > Only, here’s the thing: that’s exactly what they are. Responsible. Google > writes the code that drives the algorithm that returns the results. How > they write this code, what they use to assess authority and credibility, > how that enables Stormfront to spread its lies and spew its poison is > entirely its responsibility. When the shadow minister whose brief this > includes fails to realise this, we have some idea of the scale of the > problem. > > Our problem too: because do we let these multinational corporations own us > and all aspects of our lives? Is that the plan? The Google Transparency > Project has documented how the company has become one of the biggest > spenders on government lobbyists in the US. It has also shown how in the > US, UK and Europe there has been an open door between government and senior > positions at Google – the GTP found 251 instances of staff moving between > the two in the US and 80 in Europe. > > That is how power works. This is how power works too: the last time I wrote > a story that Google didn’t like, I got a call from Peter Barron, Google’s > UK head of press, who was at pains to point out the positive and beneficial > relationship that Google has with the Guardian Media Group, our owners. > > Google’s business model is built around the idea that it’s a neutral > platform. That its magic algorithm waves its magic wand and delivers magic > results without the sullying intervention of any human. It desperately does > not want to be seen as a media company, as a content provider, as a news > and information medium that should be governed by the same rules that apply > to other media. But this is exactly what it is. This week’s editing of the > content around evil Jews has demonstrated exactly that. And our failure – > the failure of our politicians and the mainstream press – to reckon with it > makes us an accessory to the crime. We are colluding with it in > broadcasting hate speech and lies. > > The right is on the rise everywhere. And that includes on the internet. It > is creating more content that is travelling wider and further. It has > changed both the questions being asked – did the Holocaust actually happen? > Are Jews evil? Should Islam be destroyed – and answered. It is in the > process of remaking the world, rewriting history, rewiring minds, changing > the conversation, reframing the questions and answers. It’s our world. Our > internet. Our history. And we have to wake up to what is happening right > now on the laptop on our desk, the phone in our pocket, the tablet in our > children’s bedrooms. This is our choice: do something. Or accept the truth > according to Google. That six million didn’t die. That the Holocaust never > happened. That we didn’t care enough to remember. > > > Guru > IT for Change > Bangalore > www.ITforChange.net > > -- > ----------- > 1.ವಿಷಯ ಶಿಕ್ಷಕರ ವೇದಿಕೆಗೆ ಶಿಕ್ಷಕರನ್ನು ಸೇರಿಸಲು ಈ ಅರ್ಜಿಯನ್ನು ತುಂಬಿರಿ. > - > https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSevqRdFngjbDtOF8YxgeXeL8xF62rdXuLpGJIhK6qzMaJ_Dcw/viewform > 2. ಇಮೇಲ್ ಕಳುಹಿಸುವಾಗ ಗಮನಿಸಬೇಕಾದ ಕೆಲವು ಮಾರ್ಗಸೂಚಿಗಳನ್ನು ಇಲ್ಲಿ ನೋಡಿ. > -http://karnatakaeducation.org.in/KOER/index.php/ವಿಷಯಶಿಕ್ಷಕರವೇದಿಕೆ_ಸದಸ್ಯರ_ಇಮೇಲ್_ಮಾರ್ಗಸೂಚಿ > 3. ಐ.ಸಿ.ಟಿ ಸಾಕ್ಷರತೆ ಬಗೆಗೆ ಯಾವುದೇ ರೀತಿಯ ಪ್ರಶ್ನೆಗಳಿದ್ದಲ್ಲಿ ಈ ಪುಟಕ್ಕೆ ಭೇಟಿ ನೀಡಿ > - > http://karnatakaeducation.org.in/KOER/en/index.php/Portal:ICT_Literacy > 4.ನೀವು ಸಾರ್ವಜನಿಕ ತಂತ್ರಾಂಶ ಬಳಸುತ್ತಿದ್ದೀರಾ ? ಸಾರ್ವಜನಿಕ ತಂತ್ರಾಂಶದ ಬಗ್ಗೆ ತಿಳಿಯಲು > -http://karnatakaeducation.org.in/KOER/en/index.php/Public_Software > ----------- > --- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "EnglishSTF" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to [email protected]. > To post to this group, send an email to [email protected]. > For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. >
-- ----------- 1.ವಿಷಯ ಶಿಕ್ಷಕರ ವೇದಿಕೆಗೆ ಶಿಕ್ಷಕರನ್ನು ಸೇರಿಸಲು ಈ ಅರ್ಜಿಯನ್ನು ತುಂಬಿರಿ. - https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSevqRdFngjbDtOF8YxgeXeL8xF62rdXuLpGJIhK6qzMaJ_Dcw/viewform 2. ಇಮೇಲ್ ಕಳುಹಿಸುವಾಗ ಗಮನಿಸಬೇಕಾದ ಕೆಲವು ಮಾರ್ಗಸೂಚಿಗಳನ್ನು ಇಲ್ಲಿ ನೋಡಿ. -http://karnatakaeducation.org.in/KOER/index.php/ವಿಷಯಶಿಕ್ಷಕರವೇದಿಕೆ_ಸದಸ್ಯರ_ಇಮೇಲ್_ಮಾರ್ಗಸೂಚಿ 3. ಐ.ಸಿ.ಟಿ ಸಾಕ್ಷರತೆ ಬಗೆಗೆ ಯಾವುದೇ ರೀತಿಯ ಪ್ರಶ್ನೆಗಳಿದ್ದಲ್ಲಿ ಈ ಪುಟಕ್ಕೆ ಭೇಟಿ ನೀಡಿ - http://karnatakaeducation.org.in/KOER/en/index.php/Portal:ICT_Literacy 4.ನೀವು ಸಾರ್ವಜನಿಕ ತಂತ್ರಾಂಶ ಬಳಸುತ್ತಿದ್ದೀರಾ ? ಸಾರ್ವಜನಿಕ ತಂತ್ರಾಂಶದ ಬಗ್ಗೆ ತಿಳಿಯಲು -http://karnatakaeducation.org.in/KOER/en/index.php/Public_Software ----------- --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "EnglishSTF" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To post to this group, send an email to [email protected]. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
