Remember when I accused Google of censoring search hints? Some of the reactions were just hysterical. So many technically inclined people on the right have a reflexive desire to defend Google and make the kindest assumptions about the company. The company itself claimed that it was all coincidence.
Further research showed that Google was also censoring criticism of Islam, a claim that was met with the same incredulity.
Enter The Jawa Report. Their emailer noticed that hey, now suddenly Google comes up with the a whole list of negative description of Islam just like it does for Christianity, where before there was nothing. Is anyone going to claim that such a sudden, dramatic change is just the random fluctuation of an algorithm? I hope not.
Between Google standing up to China and Islam, I have to wonder if public scrutiny is making the company realize that they must actually be neutral if they want to expect others to be (net) neutral. That would be a benefit to us all given the firm’s market power. Time will tell.