//https://www.forbes.com/sites/emmawoollacott/2018/06/01/google-repeats-wikipedia-hoax-labeling-california-republicans-as-nazis/


Google Repeats Wikipedia Hoax, Labeling California Republicans As Nazis
Emma Woollacott , CONTRIBUTOR
(6/1/18)

Opinions expressed by Forbes Contributors are their own.

Photo by James Leynse/Corbis via Getty Images

Wikipedia vandalism has produced some entertaining tropes over the years, as hoaxers edit pages for entertainment value.

Thus, we've been told that Janis Joplin was afraid of toilets, Robbie Williams eats domestic pets and Eminem is the voice of Spongebob Squarepants.

Sometimes, lazy journalists have been caught out by relying on vandalized entries. Rush Limbaugh, for example, once claimed that a federal judge was an amateur taxidermist, while a British journalist once wrote that a Cypriot football team's supporters liked to wear hats made out of shoes.

But individual journalists are one thing; the behemoth that is Google is another. And the company is today under fire for the fact that, yesterday, anybody searching for 'California Republicans' or 'California Republican Party' would have found Nazism listed as one of its core ideologies.


First discovered by Vice, the entry has now been amended. However, the party hasn't taken it well. "Evidence is mounting that conservative voices are either being suppressed or, as it appears in this case, being falsely depicted as hateful extremists," tweeted party chairwoman Ronna McDaniel.

Meanwhile, House Republican leader Kevin McCarthy executive described the Google information box as 'just the latest incident in a disturbing trend to slander conservatives', and director Cynthia Bryant claimed it was 'libelous'.

The edit is presumably referencing Patrick Little, an open neo-Nazi who was thrown out of the Californian Republican party last month.

Google was swift to remove the entry once it was highlighted - as it's required by law to do - and says that it has systems to detect Wikipedia vandalism before it repeats any howlers.

However, the mistake is reinforcing the beliefs of aggrieved conservatives that the tech industry out to get them.

"More bias against conservatives. This one from @google is even more disgusting than @instagram putting up a note that those searching a # of my name 'could cause harm and even lead to death'," tweeted Donald Trump junior.

He adds - rather confusingly - "So much for free thought or speech!"

In fact, of course, Google is pretty even-handed when it comes to casting aspersions. It's been caught out, for example, giving autocomplete suggestions such as 'Are Jews evil?', 'Are Muslims bad?'.

And, right now, it's suggesting that 'Liberals are undermining western civilization' and 'The US democratic party should be outlawed'.

It's fair to say, though, that misinformation in Google's information box is rather more troubling than these Autocomplete suggestions, as the information boxes are clearly presented as being trustworthy, impartial sources.

Given that Google co-founder Sergey Brin used to date Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales, you'd think they'd be able to sort something out.