Sunday, August 5, 2007
There seems to be another push to get a certain anti-Semitic web site de-listed from Google. It used to be the first result when you typed the word "Jew" in a search. This was not an intentional result on Google's part, as their explanation makes clear, but is merely the product of whatever algorithm Google uses to rank search results. Google has, correctly, refused to remove "that site" from its results, in spite of various letter and petition campaigns. Instead, an effort of site owners has resulted in another web site taking top place in the search for the word Jew. Good.
I'm posting this because I've had a surge in emails trying to get me to sign petitions and get behind efforts to get Google to de-link that other site. I won't do it, I won't sign. I don't want the people at Google (or petition signers) making such decisions in all but the most extreme and direct circumstances. This isn't one.
I agree. Trying to control Google anyway is like trying to empty the ocean with a teaspoon, for all the good that it can do. Bad ideas, lies and hatred must be fought by good ideas, truth, facts and solicitude. More facts, more good ideas, more robust engagement!
"The cause of the Jews would be half won if only their friends brought to their defense a little of the passion and the perseverance their enemies use to bring them down." (Sartre)
You called this one right, Sol. As noxious as that site is, we don't need censorship. In a similar vein, while I object to promoting or publicizing Mein Kampf or The Protocols of the Elders of Zion, those screeds should nonetheless be available.
As a practical matter, trying to ban sites like that one is futile not just by the scale of the task, as Noga notes, but also because it's a game of Whack-A-Mole. Suppose the petition succeeds and they're scratched from Google's index. It wouldn't take them long to move the site to a new server (different IP address) under a different domain name. The old, blacklisted site could reject spiders and redirect others to the new location. They're back in business, and it wouldn't take too long to propagate the change out to all the buddy sites that gave it such a high PageRank in the first place.
Yep. Please notice the efforts by the owner of this (and many other) sites:
http://www.zionism-israel.com/log/
there is a page he created:
http://www.zionism-israel.com/Jew.htm
That could do with more links. And no, it is not me ;-)
Admirable stance - it's the proverbial slippery slope. As Nappy-headed Ho' pointed out, it's also practically useless.