By: Sophie Yang
Recently, under the investigation of U.S. lawmakers, Google faces accusations of falsely misdirecting its users to “fake abortion clinics” in certain states that refuse the operation. These clinics, often dubbed “crisis pregnancy centers”, utilize Google’s inaccurate search algorithm to deceive their patients by unethical means.
Earlier this month, lawmakers protested that Google’s search engine was providing misleading information regarding abortion clinics in states upholding “abortion trigger laws,” which would immediately ban abortion rights in those areas as soon as the pending decision of the Supreme Court case Roe v. Wade is released. Currently, 13 states already have these “trigger laws” set in place, and five more states will follow suit with their legislation.
In a recent report made by professional legislators, as stated by journalist Kim Bellware, “11 percent of Google search results for abortion services led users to nonmedical facilities that don’t provide abortion; the result was 37 percent for Google Maps queries. The report by the U.S.-based nonprofit Center for Countering Digital Hate also found that almost 28 percent of Google ads that appear at the top of related search-result pages were for antiabortion clinics.”
It is imperative that such a worldwide, dominating search engine like Google–with over 90% of the global market share–fix these errors immediately. The large company likes to keep its search algorithm’s secrets under wraps, however, Imran Ahmed, CEO of the Center for Countering Digital Hate, thinks that the digital system “can be easily gamed”, or weaponized to cause real harm.
These fake clinics, or “crisis pregnancy centers”, not only cause “delays and inequities in access to abortion,” as stated by The American Medical Association’s Journal of Ethics, but also use hate and disinformation, such as infertility or suicidal impulses after abortion, to make people give up on their abortions.
To stress the importance of responsible technology platforms and policies for one’s personal and mental health, Ahmed says, “People have a right to hold an opinion on abortion, but it’s their use of deception that makes it so malignant.”
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