Communications of the ACM
Search Results Not Biased Along Party Lines, Stanford Scholars Find
Stanford University researchers evaluated the news sources that appeared on the first page of a Google search result for every candidate running for federal office in the 2018 U.S. election.
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A study by Stanford University scholars did not find any apparent political bias in the algorithm of the Google search engine.
The researchers reviewed the first page of Google search results for every candidate running for federal office in the 2018 U.S. election over a six-month period, and found sources from either end of the political spectrum were not being excluded, while news sources held a relatively centrist viewpoint for the most part.
Stanford's Jeff Hancock suggested Google's algorithm highlights authoritative sources, but emphasized the need to audit such algorithms to ensure the absence of bias, adding “without audits, it’s difficult to assess these opaque algorithms.”
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Abstracts Copyright © 2019 SmithBucklin, Washington, DC, USA
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