Technology

Google Being Sued for Suggesting ‘Jewish’ in Its Autocomplete Function

Begin to search for Rupert Murdoch in Google. Before you’ve even gotten to your second “u,” Google‘s autocomplete has already guessed you’re looking for the media tycoon. But that’s not all — other things are suggested through Google’s autocomplete as well. One of these suggestions is “Jewish.”

Google Autocomplete Being Sued for Creating Probably the Biggest Jewish File in History

When you being to search Rupert Murdoch in Google it autocompletes with suggested terms like "Jewish." This suggestion has Google under fire in France.

It’s this designation associated with his name and that of others that has Google in some hot water. The Times of Israel reports that Google is being sued by the French organization SOS Racisme, which fights racism and discrimination, for suggesting the term “Jewish” with names like Murdoch and Mad Men actor Jon Hamm, even though neither are Jewish themselves:

Patrick Kulgman, a lawyer for SOS Racisme, told Agence France Presse that the feature amounts to “the creation of what is probably the biggest Jewish file in history.” That would be a non-issue in many countries, but France has outlawed the compilation of “ethnic files,” AFP reports.

SOS Racisme is joined in the lawsuit by France’s Union of Jewish Students and the Movement Against Racism and for Friendship Among Peoples, among other organizations.

“Numerous users of the premier search engine in France and the world confront daily an unsolicited and almost systematic association between the term ‘Jewish’ and the last names of prominent figures in politics, media and business,” the suit says, creating a sense of Jewish “omnipotence in the French leadership.”

Hollywood Reporter notes the hearing is scheduled for Wednesday, where the plaintiff will argue against the “unsolicited and systematic associations between famous people and their Jewishness” as completed on Google.

The Jewish Press has more on what happens in one of the searches:

But if you plug the name of the actor who plays that elegant, utterly aloof, lady killer Mad Av executive in the search box, like we did, you’ll get a long list of websites (460,000 actually) that debate the possible connection between Hamm and the revelation on Mt. Sinai.

It’s all math, and for the most part it’s very useful math, enriching the Internet search process by suggesting directions the user hadn’t thought of. Also, if the same user has been looking for just that kind of information, the feature cuts down on search time, freeing up more valuable time for another rousing game of Solitaire.

According to Google’s FAQ on its autocomplete function, it is run by an algorithm that “predicts and displays search queries based on other users’ search activities and the contents of web pages indexed by Google.” Because of this, there can occasionally be a search term that Google acknowledges may be “surprising to you.” It emphasizes that autocomplete is based on a variety of factors and is not manual. At the same time it does acknowledge that it excludes “a narrow class of search queries related to pornography, violence, hate speech and copyright infringement.”

Hollywood Reporter says Google has been targeted in France before for its autocomplete when two companies complained they were being associated with the word “scam.” In one case, the judge ruled in favor of the company, while in another the judge cited freedom of speech but did note Google could be held liable since the company alerted it to the problem.

[H/T: GeekOSystem]

Comments (21)

  • Constantine Ivanov
    Posted on May 2, 2012 at 4:53pm

    The AUTOCOMPLETE FUNCTION is programmatically based on the frequency of previous searches.
    Therefore, those idiots who sue Google, should sue the people who were searching whether Rupert Murdoch is a Jew. What an untouchable caste of illiterate stinky jerks are those litigious people!

    Report Post » Constantine Ivanov  
  • 123456beatriz
    Posted on May 2, 2012 at 1:04pm

    Unbelievable The JEWS will VOTE for OB AGAIN!…..This is really stupid! I can not believe it BUT is the reality AND Sad!

    Report Post »  
  • Constantine Ivanov
    Posted on May 2, 2012 at 12:59am

    Google should suggest Rupert Murdoch Zimbabwe-born Mongolian. Then it would be no law suite. Pah!

    Report Post » Constantine Ivanov  
  • iAmLoki
    Posted on May 1, 2012 at 8:08pm

    People are suffering in Israel/Palestine and Syria…

    Report Post » iAmLoki  
  • MIldman
    Posted on May 1, 2012 at 7:28pm

    …and somewhere in the world, people have real problems.

    Report Post »  
  • dfreck723
    Posted on May 1, 2012 at 6:54pm

    What is so funny about this is that now that they have created the controversy, people will be looking up “Rupert Murdoch Jewish” on Google, making it even more likely to show up on auto-complete!Ironic. Now you just ruined what you were trying to get rid of in the first place! People on the left are so stupid.

    Report Post »  
  • red1
    Posted on May 1, 2012 at 2:44pm

    This is a tactic used by the left. It is called Google Bombing. I just read about it here yesterday: http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Journalism/2012/05/01/Occupy-Twitter-Top-Ten-Dirty-Tricks-Leftists-Play-Online

    I don‘t know if Google can be held accountable for it but if Google doesn’t find a way to prevent it, the value of Google will be less.

    Report Post »  
  • tzion
    Posted on May 1, 2012 at 12:53pm

    They’ve got nothing on them. Unless they can prove that Google intentionally did this and it wasn‘t the result of some weird computer algorithm being presented with unusual search results Google can’t be liable.

    Report Post »  
  • MAMMY_NUNN
    Posted on May 1, 2012 at 12:06pm

    Now computational findings and analysis are now racists my computer is now causing me to become a racists ? Barry will stop at nothing to increase the racial divide

    Report Post »  
  • qpwillie
    Posted on May 1, 2012 at 11:44am

    They must think Google has somebody sitting there to quickly type in the autocomplete text every time somebody does a search.

    Report Post » qpwillie  
  • HorseCrazy
    Posted on May 1, 2012 at 11:43am

    lawyers strike again. I am Jewish here well a Christian with a Jewish family and name what’s the big deal here.

    Report Post »  
  • Minnaloushe
    Posted on May 1, 2012 at 11:37am

    Correct me if I’m wrong.
    If Google has no staff or physical presence in France (or chooses to remove said presence), doesn’t that render this Frenchy-French hissy fit a non-issue?
    If the Frenchy-French can serve Google here *without* them having any presence in Frenchy-France, then this is just one more way to bring about censorship via the civil courts as an end-run around the 1st amendment.

    Report Post »  
    • ghostsouls
      Posted on May 1, 2012 at 11:45am

      “If Google has no staff or physical presence in France (or chooses to remove said presence)” How can you remove a presence if there is none?

      Report Post » ghostsouls  
    • Minnaloushe
      Posted on May 1, 2012 at 12:02pm

      I.e.,. if Google does have a physical presence there and were to remove it. Perhaps not the best wording, but the point should be clear enough

      Report Post »  
  • Itsjusttim
    Posted on May 1, 2012 at 11:19am

    Yes well isn’t it true that what drives auto-select is previous searches that many people have typed in?

    Report Post » Itsjusttim  
  • ShadowPlacebo
    Posted on May 1, 2012 at 11:09am

    Would he rather it say “Robert Murdoch Nazi”

    Report Post » ShadowPlacebo  
  • COFemale
    Posted on May 1, 2012 at 11:08am

    Are they serious. Hey dip _________ turn off your autocomplete. What a NIMROD.

    Throw the bum out. This is a frivioulous lawsuit.

    Report Post » COFemale  

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