Users of the privacy-focused search engine DuckDuckGo are accusing it of censorship over its decision to downrank Russian propaganda.
DuckDuckGo founder Gabriel Weinberg’s Wednesday announcement that the search engine would update its search results so websites known for spreading Russian disinformation would be downranked was not received well by its fans on Twitter.
Canadian YouTuber and commentator Viva Frei wrote: “15 years to build a company. One tweet to ruin it. DuckDuckGo sold itself on unmanipulated search results, now admitting it will manipulate search results. Has it been doing it all along? Makes no difference now. Integrity irreparably compromised. With one tweet.”
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15 years to build a company. One tweet to ruin it. DuckDuckGo sold itself on unmanipulated search results, now admitting it will manipulate search results. Has it been doing it all along? Makes no difference now. Integrity irreparably compromised. With one tweet. https://t.co/KryVtecuuQ pic.twitter.com/IO8ytVi2PE
— Viva Frei (@thevivafrei) March 11, 2022
The decision was criticized by those who see the website as a counter to the filter bubbles created by other Big Tech companies.
“It is sad to see DuckDuckGo join the ever-growing ‘Ministry of Truth,'” tweeted Michael O’Fallon, founder of religious organization Sovereign Nations.
“DuckDuckGo destroys their only value proposition with a single tweet,” political commentator Tim Pool said.
DuckDuckGo destroys their only value proposition with a single tweet https://t.co/eh8nHsw8po
— Tim Pool (@Timcast) March 10, 2022
Other users insinuated they’d stop using the service, accusing it of censorship on par with Big Tech platforms such as Google.
Weinberg said he was “sickened” by the Russian invasion when implementing the algorithm change.
“Like so many others, I am sickened by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the gigantic humanitarian crisis it continues to create,” Weinberg said in a Wednesday tweet. “At DuckDuckGo, we’ve been rolling out search updates that down-rank sites associated with Russian disinformation.”
Weinberg also said the company would place news modules and information boxes at the top of search results to provide reliable sources” on “rapidly unfolding topics.” It is unclear whether this decision reflects a change in the company’s policy regarding disinformation as a whole or just in the context of Russia and Ukraine.
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The downranking is not the company’s first move to remove Russian influence from its platform. DuckDuckGo announced on March 1 that it had “paused” its partnership with German search engine Yandex as the war between Ukraine and Russia began.
DuckDuckGo distinguished itself from other search engines by not tracking user data or selling that information to third parties while relying on affiliate links and nontargeted ads for its funding. This made DuckDuckGo notably popular with the Right, particularly those prone to seeking alternative perspectives on COVID-19 vaccines or the 2020 election. However, the company claims its user base has a mixture of political orientations based on internal surveys.
