Julian Assange has tweeted an interesting message. He asked the question: “Is Google downranking “anti-establishment” news/criticism sites on the left +right?” Then he posted a picture of examples of ‘left’ leaning sites that have recently dropped dramatically in traffic.
Is Google is down ranking "anti-establishment" news/criticism sites on the left+right? Left example: https://t.co/1WV06Y5b1W pic.twitter.com/pnOguMcuS5
— #FreeAssange! (tweets by campaign)⌛ (@JulianAssange) August 19, 2017
One group, World Socialist Web Site or www.wsws.org saw traffic drop by 67% – this drop refers to the traffic generated by Google searches only. Other sites included the Intercept, Wikileaks itself, Media Matters, and many others also saw significant dips. As Assange says this was just the sites from the left. As for right-wing publications, the same must be happening for them. So what is Google playing at?
We all know President Donald Trump often refers to many of the mainstream media networks, specifically CNN, as fake news. This is a very strange point in time where publications clearly put their own slant on everything, to the point where truth seems subjective. The internet has created a huge hunger for independent news. Social media has become a viable way of broadcasting to large audiences. Many people have turned to independent media in the hope of it having no agenda. This is the problem, it is hard to find any source that is not biased in some way.
There is also the claim that it was social and independent media that turned the election campaign into a meme war last year. Julian Assange as the head of Wikileaks, chose to publish the now infamous DNC and Podesta emails, which showed the behind the scenes workings of Hillary Clinton’s campaign. Clinton claims the emails were hacked and stolen by Russia in a plot against her, however there have been recent reports suggesting it could have instead been an inside leak.
Whatever the case, this whole email scandal pointed to a new era in media. Information has a slant, a source, and the source has an intention. Sure there has always been spin, but the internet has sent political spin into overdrive. So why is Google sending less people to these independent sites? It is a good question.
With the corporate slogan “Don’t be evil,” Google is a company that has a lot of knowledge and power. Why is independent news media being silenced by Google down-ranking them? Many YouTube clips have also been demonetized lately. Something strange is going on.
As more and more people block out facts they do not want to believe, truth has weirdly become what is in the eye of the beholder.
Featured image via Flickr.