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Trump Considers Regulating Google Because of Negative Search Results on His Name

By Gabriela Vatu / August 29, 2018

The Trump administration is looking to regulate Google because, as you'd probably expect by now, Donald Trump doesn't like all the negative results the search engine generates.

According to Trump economic adviser, Larry Kudlow, the administration is taking a look at federal regulations for Google. The statement comes after Trump accused Google in a tweet of rigging the search engine. The President's problem, it seems, is that when you search for "Trump News" the results are all negative, and he feels that "Republican/Conservative & Fair Media is shut out," while CNN stands out.

Of course, this has nothing to do with rigging search results, since the algorithm is the same from one end of Google to the next, but more to do with the fact that CNN is a reputable source, while Fox News, for instance, is not. Also, Trump has made it obvious time and time again that "fair media" is the one that praises him, while "fake news" is any publication that will criticize him and write about the inconsistencies in his speech and policies.

The US President went even further in his rant, saying that not just Google was at stake here, but also Twitter and Facebook, and that they should "be careful". As per usual, the tech companies went ahead and ignored the threats since it's not the first time that something bothered Trump and he went on a Twitter rant about it.

Google did want to clear things out and mention that the search engine is not designed with the intent of pushing one political ideology over another. On the other hand, it does push forward "high-quality content" from reputable sources. Anyone with minimal knowledge about search engines is aware of this, of course - it's all about algorithms. With Google trying to fight fake news in the past few years, it has worked on refining what sources people see in their searches even more due to repeat offenders.

Aside from the insane idea of regulating Google for the sole purpose of stroking the President's ego, this is, as many legislators shot back over Twitter, an attack on free speech.

What do you think of Donald Trump's statements? Let us know in the comments section below. Don’t forget to follow us on Facebook and Twitter. Thanks!



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