Google algorithm surfaces Twitter conspiracy theories about Texas gunman
In the wake of the Las Vegas attack last month, Google's algorithm was under scrutiny for listing conspiracy theories originated from 4chan that wrongly identified a man named Geary Danley as the gunman.
After the recent shooting in a Baptist church in Sutherland Springs, Texas, in which at least 26 people were killed, we're at it again.
As of Monday searches on Google of "Devin Patrick Kelley," who the authorities identified as the gunman, showed results from "Adorable Deplorable" spreading unverified claims that the shooter was a Democrat:
The results appeared in Google's "Popular on Twitter" carousel, just below the "Top Stories" module, which reflects conversation, thoughts, and views on Twitter.
On Sunday evening, NYC Media Lab executive director Justin Hendrix noticed the carousel was promoting misinformation and hoaxes from Paul Joseph Watson, among others, who is a far-right commentator and InfoWars editor-at-large.
Conspiracy theories there falsely claim the gunman was a member of a pro-Bernie Sanders group, a radical alt-left or an ANTIFA representative:
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Google insists the Twitter module isn't given a prominent position on the search page:
"The search results appearing from Twitter, which surface based on our ranking algorithms, are changing second by second and represent a dynamic conversation that is going on in near real-time," a Google spokesperson said.
"For the queries in question, they are not the first results we show on the page. Instead, they appear after news sources, including our Top Stories carousel which we have been constantly updating. We’ll continue to look at ways to improve how we rank tweets that appear in search."
As with Vegas, YouTube was also promoting misinformation and conspiracy theories.
Alleged "proof" that Kelley is a member of the ANTIFA is among the top results when you search his name:
Topics Google
