I’m sure many of you can relate whenever you hear the phrase “Google is my best friend”, and it is no doubt that it really is. We use Google for almost anything; from checking how words are spelt (I even Googled if it’s ‘spelled’ or ‘spelt’), to finding out the cause of that sharp pain in our knee.
Almost always, Google gives us what we’re looking for, and this is because the algorithms have been cleverly built into the system to aid us.
Funnily, The Star reported that the algorithms of Google have been programmed in such a way that if you search for the word “idiot”, hundreds of Donald Trump pictures pop up.
Go try it yourself!
You will find hundreds of images of the American president together with some of his sons, Eric and Donald Jr.
Source: City News
According to The Guardian, online activists have started a campaign as a result of Trump’s somewhat controversial policies that they are unhappy with. Apparently, they have manipulated Google’s algorithm by attaching the word to Trump’s images.
In the article, it states that the trend began with Reddit users “upvoting” a post that contained an image of Trump linked to the word “idiot”. It claims that Google has been consistent in refusing to “play God” when it comes to its search engine’s algorithm.
Source: Shemazing
Despite the algorithm being reworked on a regular basis, the article states that it only makes the search engine more useful and not more culturally sensitive. The article also states several controversial search results from Google in the past.
In 2004, searches for the word “Jew” resulted in hooked-nosed caricatures, and in 2009 searches for “Michelle Obama” showed modified pictures that gave the first lady ape-like features. It also claims that searching for “rapist” before the US election will return at least five images of president Bill Clinton.
Did you try Google searching “idiot”? What did you find? Comment with your favourite photo from the results in the comments below!
Also read: U.S. President Donald Trump Could Be Visiting Malaysia This November
