Graphic detail | Seek and you shall find

Google rewards reputable reporting, not left-wing politics

Our statistical study revealed no evidence of ideological bias in the search engine’s news tab

“GOOGLE & OTHERS are suppressing voices of Conservatives”, tweeted Donald Trump in 2018. “They are controlling what we can & cannot see.” The president’s charges of bias are often dubious. But many people worry about algorithms absorbing human prejudices. Robert Epstein, an academic, has compiled data that show Google suggesting more positive terms when users type “Hillary Clinton” than when they look up Mr Trump. PJ Media, a conservative blog, claims that liberal sites get 96% of results for “Trump” on Google’s news page, a compilation of links to recent articles.

This article appeared in the Graphic detail section of the print edition under the headline "Seek and you shall find"

Weapons of mass disruption

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