Everyone makes mistakes. By its own entrance, that includes Google.
PragerU was informed late last week that its application had been removed from Google Play, which boasts the largest game store in the world in terms of material level. Citing its vague and subjective “hate speech” policy, Google’s decision to invoke the policy was apparently triggered by Prager U’s new documentary,” Dear Infidels: A Warning to America”, which shares stories of victims who fled violent Islamic regimes.
Within a few hours, Google removed its disqualification and reinstated access to the app. A spokeswoman informed The Epoch Times that the game had been suspended in error after further investigation. So sorry for the inconvenience, associates.
But there’s lots of reason to be suspicious of the tech giant’s mea culpa. Most glaringly, this is n’t the first time PragerU has been censored by Google. In reality, the tech giant’s prior repression of PragerU on YouTube sparked a national lawsuit that, despite being fruitless, could scarcely have passed unnoticed at corporate offices in Silicon Valley.
So it must be asked: Is Google truly this innocent? And is PragerU truly that unhappy?
This unknown can be solved without the assistance of a supersleuth like Agatha Christie or Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. More closely resembles” Colonel Mustard with the lead pipe in the librarian” in terms of design.
It’s clear what happened below. PragerU was chosen for censoring among the more than 3 million programs available for download on Google Play. Also available? Hitler’s Mein Kampf, coupled with awful opinions praising” the man, the story, the story”. How quickly “hate talk” policies lead to random and dangerous censorship when PragerU is cruel and Mein Kampf is not covered by Google’s policies.
Worse, Google’s puritanical practices and impulses does seriously affect public discourse. With over$ 2 trillion in market capitalization, Google is the fourth- largest corporation in the world. It has a lot more control over people and businesses than most other countries, as a result. Google has strayed far from its” Do n’t be evil” roots, becoming the embodiment of a significant evil in any free society: choosing and deciding what views are acceptable in the public square.
Every instance of repression raises questions of free speech and threatens the bottom line of the business. Because Google is a publicly traded company, owners, including conservative supporters of PragerU, are likely to lose money as a result of the company’s behavior toward talk reduction. No business is exempt from brand-destroying accountability for engaging with owners and clients on issues of public concern, as illustrated by the earlier unavoidable brands like Disney, Target, and Bud Light.
Google has a fantastic chance to change course and stop repression in the future. It may accomplish this by following JP Morgan Chase’s example and renunciating its notoriously difficult “hate speech” policy.
Commercial America is riddled with illiberal laws like these, as our Stance Diversity Score Business Index demonstrates. In our analysis of 85 of the biggest tech and economic businesses, we discovered that 76 percent of them have vague or personal terms of service, including 69 percent of financial institutions and 100 percent of online services providers.
Procedures like these almost guarantee that all political parties in America are subject to censorship. While traditional organizations like PragerU are undoubtedly dealing with these plans ‘ effects, a change in the political climate could just as easily put those on the remaining in the same position.
It goes without saying that an error only turns out to be a mistake when you do n’t make the correction.
Google has admitted its problem. That’s a good start. However, it’s still to be seen if Google and other businesses that control the online public square may be willing to make significant adjustments to prevent it from occurring again.
