jueves, 2 de marzo de 2017

So what does Mr Google have to say about assisted suicide? | MercatorNet

So what does Mr Google have to say about assisted suicide?

There seems to be some subtle censorship built into the search engine

Janie Valentine | Mar 2 2017 | comment

While researching physician assisted suicide legislation this past week, I noticed something odd when I Googled the topic.

After I typed “physician assisted” into Google, the search engine’s autocomplete function suggested searches related to “physician assisted death.”

I then started to type out “physician assisted suicide,” but as soon as I typed the “s,” all suggestions disappeared.

Out of curiosity, I visited Google Trends to see how searches in the United States over the past year compare between the two terms. As expected, “physician assisted suicide” has consistently been a more popular search term than “physician assisted death.”

Next, I pulled up Bing and Yahoo! to see what these search engines would fill in when I typed “physician assisted.” Each site pulled up multiple “physician assisted suicide” suggestions prior to any terms related to “physician assisted death.”

Google is transparent about the fact that they censor autocomplete suggestions for offensive content; however, they have also been accused of ideologically driven censorship. While the above screenshots are not evidence in themselves of an agenda, it is worth noting even subtle ways that corporations can influence public opinion on bioethical issues. Vocabulary and branding are especially powerful tools in swaying sentiments, as those trying to steer people to the term “physician assisted death” are well aware.

Janie Valentine blogs at Bioethics @ TIU. This post originally appeared on Bioethics @ TIU on February 27.

- See more at: https://www.mercatornet.com/careful/view/so-what-does-mr-google-have-to-say-about-assisted-suicide/19425#sthash.Gf8bjkOd.dpuf

If you can tear yourself away from The Adventures of Donald Trump for a few minutes, our lead article looks at the political situation in France, where there are presidential elections next month. The writer, Ronnie Smith, is an Englishman living at present in Languedoc (a good swap, I would say), which makes him close enough to the action but emotionally far enough away to attempt an ironic assessment of the prospects of the main candidates.

Of course, few of us would care very much about that if it weren’t for the rising popularity of the Trumpish Marine Le Pen, who, as Ross Douthat of the New York Times concurs, has a chance of winning the presidency. Her opposite number is another outsider, which could make the whole thing very exciting.

On a different note: A week ago I wrote about a crisis in a pregnancy here in Auckland where the baby had had surgery for spina bifida in utero. I am happy to say that baby Benjamin was safely delivered yesterday at 33 weeks and things are looking hopeful. Further updates to come.