Written by Nima Najariandariani，2021 Cohort
How deeply can search engines affect how people think? What about the attitudes or purchases you make? It’s not a very superstitious thing to say right now search engines have become some kind of mind-controlling machines. There are some tech experts who recommend you should never use the google search engine. They even go further and say it’s a surveillance and manipulation platform. They illustrate it as there are always two levels with everything with google. On the surface, it looks like a free public library, although beneath the surface there is something different from a business perspective. And it’s an SNM platform. You may wonder what is SNM platform? The platform aims to be a supercomputer that can be used to perform tasks like video rendering, web hosting, scientific calculations, hosting game servers, etc. These platforms get a lot and a lot of information from users, unlike your public librarian who doesn’t do that. There is a big controversy here amongst tech experts that if they can control the ranking of search results and websites, they can control people’s opinions, purchases and votes. The point is that they can not control everyone’s opinions because a lot of people already have strong ones. So those who can be vulnerable here are the ones who are undecided. There is also an article on US News published in 2016 that writes about nine different blacklists that Google maintains and how they impact our lives, generally without input or authority from any outside advisory group, industry association or government agency. On the other hand, Google is not the only company suppressing content on the internet. Reddit has also frequently been accused of banning postings on specific topics, and there was a report back then in 2016 which suggest that Facebook had been deleting conservative news stories from its newsfeed, a practice that might have a significant effect on public opinion – even on voting. The real controversy comes when the subject is maintaining some social cohesions. I personally believe that some degree of censorship and blacklisting is probably necessary, and I am not disputing that. But the suppression of information on the internet needs to be managed by some responsible public officials, with every aspect of their operations transparent to all. What is your idea on this matter?
