An exclusive report reveals that 21 US lawmakers signed a letter urging Google to label misleading search results for abortion clinics. It turns out that several search results bring up anti-choice clinics instead…
Reuters reported that Senator Mark Warner, Representative Elissa Slotkin, and some other lawmakers sent a request to Google on Friday, June 17, asking the company to fix search results for abortion clinics.
The request came after the nonprofit Center for Countering Digital Hate published a study showing the danger that trusting Google search results could cause. The study showed up to 11% of search results for terms like “abortion clinic near me” or “abortion pill,” were of locations against abortion.
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Although, it is essential to note that the study was done in 13 US states with anti-abortion laws awaiting the Supreme Court’s decision on the 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling. The ruling is considered a landmark because it pointed out that ‘the Constitution of the United States generally protects a pregnant woman’s liberty to choose to have an abortion. The decision declared unconstitutional many US federal and state abortion laws.
While Google has not said anything about the letter, it commented on the Center for Countering Digital Hate’s research, saying, “We’re always looking at ways to improve our results to help people find what they’re looking for, or understand if what they’re looking for may not be available.”
The later part of the company’s statement could be the reason for the ‘fake’ results, but as the lawmakers requested, a label could help users understand the results better. It is crucial because anti-abortion clinics are notorious for giving women misleading and inaccurate information to prevent them from getting an abortion.
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