Google CEO denies any bias in the company
GOP lawmakers pressed Google CEO Sundar Pichai on Tuesday over allegations of employees’ anti-conservative bias and how that may unduly influence the company’s business practices. … Pichai told House Judiciary Committee members he runs the corporation without partiality toward any ideology.
During the House Judiciary Committee hearing, Rep. Bob Goodlatte (R-VA) noted:
“By ranking pages, Google’s search always favors one page over another. This process, however, turns much more sinister with allegations that Google manipulates the algorithm to favor the political party it likes.”
…California Democratic Rep. Zoe Lofgren also had some questions for Pichai on how Google’s search engine works.
“If you Google the word idiot under images, a picture of Donald Trump comes up – I just did that. How would that happen?” she asked the Google CEO.
“We try to rank and find the best results for that query.” Pichai replied.
“So it’s not some little man sitting behind the curtain figuring out what we’re going to show the user?” Lofgren said.
However, a study from Pew Research reveals concerns of bias are bipartisan. Researchers found that 85 percent of Republicans and 62 percent of Democrats believe social media companies intentionally censor viewpoints they find objectionable.
Even so, Pichai denied the charges.
“I lead this company without political bias and work to ensure that our products continue to operate that way,” Pichai said in his opening remarks. “To do otherwise would go against our core principles and our business interests. We are a company that provides platforms for diverse perspectives and opinions – and we have no shortage of them among our own employees.”
Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) was equally dismissive, calling the notion a “delusion” and a “right-wing conspiracy theory.” …
Critics say there’s so much evidence, in fact, that there’s now a whole movie about the controversial issue. It’s called “The Creepy Line” (see video under “Resources” below)
In the 80-minute documentary, former Google CEO Eric Schmidt explains that “Google policy on a lot of these things is to get right up to the creepy line and not cross it.”
Furthermore, a leaked video published by Breitbart showed some Google ｅxecutives seemingly lamenting the 2016 election results.
“We saw how upset some of the top people in Google were, and for you to come in here and tell us, ‘There is no political bias in Google,’ tells us you’re either being dishonest – I don’t wanna think that – or you don’t have a clue how politically biased Google is,” Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-TX) charged.
Meanwhile, in a National Review op-ed, Kyle Smith explains how the tech giant keeps track of users both on and offline using what he calls a “surveillance business model.”
“Google knows more about you than your spouse does,” he wrote. “It even has drafts of emails you didn’t send. Oh, and they have the power to block information from reaching you, too.”
“Just by bumping undesirable stuff to the second page of search, Google can more or less make it disappear,” he continued. “Hey, good thing Google doesn’t have any overt political or cultural preferences you might not agree with, right?”
The Google chief also faced tough questions over whether his company was planning to build a search engine for China. The tech giant pulled out of that ｃountry in 2010 in a high-profile dispute with its communist government’s policies.
Pichai indicated Google had no plans to do so “right now.”
Article Source: www.studentnewsdaily.com/daily-news-article/google-ceo-denies-any-bias-in-the-compan
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VOCABULARY WORDS:
1.Bias/ noun : prejudice in favor of or against one thing, person, or group compared with another, usually in a way considered to be unfair.
2.Allegation /noun : a claim or assertion that someone has done something illegal or wrong, typically one made without proof.
3.Conservative /adjective : holding to traditional attitudes and values and cautious about change or innovation, typically in relation to politics or religion.
4.Unduly /adverb :to an unwarranted degree; inordinately.
5.Influ·ence /noun : the capacity to have an effect on the character, development, or behavior of someone or something, or the effect itself.
6.Judiciary /noun : the judicial authorities of a ｃountry; judges collectively.
7.Query /noun : a question, especially one addressed to an official or organization.
8.Bipartisan /adjective :of or involving the agreement or cooperation of two political parties that usually oppose each other's policies.
QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION:
1. What allegations about Google were being questioned during a House Judiciary Committee hearing on Tuesday?
2. What concern did Republican Bob Goodlatte express?
3. What concerning fact did Democratic Rep. Zoe Lofgren question Mr. Pichai about?
b) How did Mr. Pichai respond?
4. What did a recent Pew poll reveal about Americans’ view of social media companies?
