Dare I say, dabbing on us?

This is from yesterday btw

      • hexaflexagonbear [he/him]
        ·
        4 years ago

        Search engine optimization. It's where you use keywords to get your results near the top of certain search engine results, trying to keep in mind the algo used to sort results. In this case (and I think this is intentional) the US government used the language that is normally used to describe the Occupied Territories by pro-Palestine activists about Xinjiang province. The idea is that since it is an official statement by the US government, it would be published in most "reputable" news outlets (which are preferred by search engines now). This means if anyone tries to find out what an "open-air prison" is, say because it is talked about on social media, they'll get stories about Xinjiang rather than Palestine.

          • SerLava [he/him]
            ·
            edit-2
            4 years ago

            Yeah it's not that different as a search algorithm. It still puts this US State Department shit on top for the same reason it puts random forum posts and mommy blogs at the bottom. It can't really do nuance any better than this.

            • Fakename_Bill [he/him]
              ·
              4 years ago

              I looked into it assuming that Google had some sort of agreement with the State Department to push narratives. Maybe it is just plain old algorithm manipulation.

    • zifnab25 [he/him, any]
      ·
      4 years ago

      Really does look that way.

      It's like they just co-opted the language to subvert search queries about the current apartheid/genocide in Palestine.