By: Aurora Cai
On June 17th, lawmakers sent a letter to Google urging the company to give accurate search results to people who are looking for abortions.
Lauren Feiner said in a CNBC news article, “[a] group of lawmakers are urging Google to clamp down on misleading search results that allegedly steer people searching for abortion services to crisis pregnancy centers that oppose it.”
The letter drew on research the Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH) had collected. There were a total of 18 Democratic senators and representatives who signed the letter.
Mariella Moon wrote in an Engadget passage, “[i]n a letter addressed to Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai, the lawmakers reference a study conducted by US nonprofit group Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH). The organization found that 1 in 10 Google search results for queries such as “abortion clinics near me” and “abortion pill” — specifically in states with trigger laws that would ban the procedure the moment Roe v. Wade is overturned — points to crisis pregnancy centers that oppose abortion instead.”
The CCDH tested their search in states that enact so-called “trigger laws,” which will be “triggered” and enforced if the Supreme Court overturns the 1973 decision that legalized abortion.
Lawmakers have noted that Google does include a disclaimer for ads from the anti-abortion clinics — “albeit one that appears in small font and is easily missed.” On the other hand, no such warning is present on non-sponsored search results on Google Search,” the lawmakers contended.
Estimations of the number of abortions are prevented by clinics are unknown due to the many states that only require reports.
CCDH has found that 28 percent of the ads that are shown on the top of search result pages and 37 percent of the searches on Google Maps led to anti – abortion fake clinics.
Links: https://s3.amazonaws.com/appforest_uf/f1655667897911x455898890068321600/Google%20results%20for%20abortion%20clinics%20are%20suggesting%20%27fake%20clinics%27%20before%20SCOTUS%20ruling%2C%20lawmakers%20say%20-%20The%20Washington%20Post.pdf
https://www.fox29.com/news/lawmakers-ask-google-to-stop-steering-women-to-fake-abortion-clinics
https://www.engadget.com/lawmakers-google-anti-abortion-sites-104344695.html