Privacy-focused search engine DuckDuckGo is ramping up its effort to prevent the spread of disinformation amid the Ukraine crisis following its decision to down-rank sites which are tied to Russian propaganda.
As the crisis continues between the Kremlin and Kyiv, some critics expressed their concern about DuckDuckGo's action. According to them, this could count as censoring other rights and freedom of expression for the people.
DuckDuckGo CEO Confirms Down-Ranking of Russian Disinformation
DuckDuckGo is de-ranking the sites which spread Russian propaganda amid the Ukraine crisis.
Over Twitter via Engadget, DuckDuckGo founder Gabriel Weinberg tweeted out the company's decision to demote all Russia-linked propaganda in the search results.
"Like so many others I am sickened by Russia's invasion of Ukraine and the gigantic humanitarian crisis it continues to create," he wrote in the tweet, which included the hashtag StandWithUkraine,"
He added that they will release "search updates" regarding this process to bar Russian disinformation from spreading further across the web.
Following this sanction, another post from the European Union tackled banning "Kremlin's media machine recently. Over the past week, the EU decided to come up with this idea to prevent false reports about Russia's invasive actions towards Ukraine.
Aside from that, Google also shared the same sentiments in de-ranking Russian state-sponsored media publications. More than four years ago, the search engine titan demoted both Sputnik News and RT in search results for allegations surrounding them.
The accusations involved spreading propaganda across the country. Meanwhile, Twitter dealt with the widespread disinformation on social media by warning the users if the links are connected to Russian state media.
The microblogging site puts warning labels on the posts so that users will be informed ahead about their potential content.
Related Article: DuckDuckGo's New Security Feature Stops Ad Companies From Spying on Users' Inbox, Similar to Apple's iOS14 Feature
DuckDuckGo's De-Ranking is Biased?
In a separate article written by PCMag, some people disapproved of the decision that DuckDuckGo made for Russia-based sources. The tech publication saw some comments of people who said that this action equates to censorship.
One user highlighted that the search engine firm is not complying with its "unbiased search" commitment.
Another commenter wrote that this announcement should be up to the user because DDG shouldn't meddle in classifying misinformation and factual reports. Still, there's another person who commented that the down-ranking of things is wrong for DuckDuckGo.
In response to the criticisms, Weinberg answered that the whole point of the search engine is privacy. He added that DuckDuckGo is committed to showing more relevant content over less relevant content.
Shane Osbourne, a software engineer of the company explained the part about unbiased research results. He said that these outcomes are not merely based on anything linked to the user's personal information.
In December 2021, Tech Times reported that the daily search queries in DuckDuckGo generated over 100 million searches. The company saw a growth of 47% in the average search results.
Previously, the search engine firm also provided extra anonymity for Android users as part of its campaign to block data collection schemes on the devices.
Read Also: DuckDuckGo Web Browser for Desktop is in the Works-Privacy Focused Alternative for Google Chrome?
This article is owned by Tech Times
Written by Joseph Henry
