"Google's claim that it is protecting readers from 'fake news' is a politically motivated lie. Google, a massive monopoly, with the closest ties to the state and intelligence agencies, is blocking access to the WSWS and other left and progressive web sites through a system of rigged searches."
In the three months since Google implemented the changes to its search engine, fewer people have accessed left-wing and anti-war news sites. Based on information available on Alexa analytics, other sites that have experienced sharp drops in ranking include WikiLeaks, Alternet, Counterpunch, Global Research, Consortium News and Truthout. Even prominent democratic rights groups such as the American Civil Liberties Union and Amnesty International appear to have been hit.
According to Google Trends, the term "fake news" roughly quadrupled in popularity in early November, around the time of the US election, as Democrats, establishment media outlets and intelligence agencies sought to blame "false information" for the electoral victory of Donald Trump over Hillary Clinton.
On November 14, the New York Times proclaimed that Google and Facebook "faced mounting criticism over how fake news on their sites may have influenced the presidential election's outcome," and they would be taking measures to combat "fake news."
Ten days later, the Washington Post published an article, "Russian propaganda effort helped spread 'fake news' during election, experts say," which cited an anonymous group known as PropOrNot that compiled a list of "fake news" sites spreading "Russian propaganda."
The list included several sites categorized by the group as "left-wing." Significantly, it targeted globalresearch.ca, which often reposts articles from the World Socialist Web Site.
After widespread criticism of what was little more than a blacklist of anti-war and anti-establishment sites, the Washington Post was forced to publish a retraction, declaring, "The Post, which did not name any of the sites, does not itself vouch for the validity of PropOrNot's findings."
On April 7, Bloomberg News reported that Google was working directly with the Washington Post and the New York Times to "fact-check" articles and eliminate "fake news." This was followed by Google's new search methodology.
Three months later, out of the 17 sites declared to be "fake news" by the Washington Post 's discredited blacklist, 14 had their global ranking fall. The average decline of the global reach of all of these sites is 25 percent, and some sites saw their global reach fall by as much as 60 percent.
"The actions of Google constitute political censorship and are a blatant attack on free speech," North stated. "At a time when public distrust of establishment media is widespread, this corporate giant is exploiting its monopolistic position to restrict public access to a broad spectrum of news and critical analysis."
(Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher).
13
12
8
