Posted on 02/23/2022 10:12:09 AM PST by yesthatjallen
On an episode of Joe Rogan’s popular podcast last year, he turned to a topic that has gripped right-wing communities and other Americans who feel skeptical about the pandemic: search engines.
“If I wanted to find specific cases about people who died from vaccine-related injuries, I had to go to DuckDuckGo,” Mr. Rogan said, referring to the small privacy-focused search engine. “I wasn’t finding them on Google.”
Praise for DuckDuckGo has become a popular refrain during the pandemic among right-wing social media influencers and conspiracy theorists who question Covid-19 vaccines and push discredited coronavirus treatments. Some have posted screenshots showing that DuckDuckGo appears to surface more links favorable to their views than Google does.
In addition to Mr. Rogan, who has recently been at the center of an outcry about misinformation on his podcast, the search engine has received ringing endorsements from some of the world’s most-downloaded conservative podcasters, including Ben Shapiro and Dan Bongino.
“Google is actively suppressing search results that don’t acquiesce to traditional viewpoints of the left,” Mr. Shapiro claimed last March. “I recommend you install DuckDuckGo on your computer, rather than Google, to combat all this.”
The endorsements underscore how right-wing Americans and conspiracy theorists are shifting their online activity in response to greater moderation from tech giants like Google. They have increasingly embraced fledgling and sometimes fringe platforms like the chat app Telegram, the video streamer Rumble and even search engines like DuckDuckGo, seeking conditions that seem more favorable to their conspiracy theories and falsehoods.
SNIP
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
They also pay extra to buy things from CommiZon.
Then throw a fit when you point it out.
I switched to duck 3 or 4 years ago. Not many issues so far. Especially for a conspiracy theorist like myself. I draw the line at chemtrails though. And 5G graphene vaccine mind control.
I’ve tried to use the French search engine qwant but the American browsers don’t like it.
Maybe the EU needs another billion dollars, or two.
DDG uses Google infrastructure. A better no bias or censorship search engine is Brave search.
Anyone who uses DuckDuckGo should have their bank accounts frozen.
And their relatives, and their next-door neighbors.
Nothing wrong with a little "bill of attainder", is there?
The death statistics for 2021 should be appearing publicly around now.
open two windows one DDG the other goog and search for the same things and see for yourself
“They both are trying to shape your views by what is presented to you in their search results.”
This Alt-right, conspiracy theorist has done a side-by-side between Google and Duck Duck Go many times.
The difference is striking! Google is most definitely serving up their woke BS.
If you post regularly on freerepublic you are almost certainly monitored and recorded by the federal government.
Don’t type anything that would bring the FBI to your door.
Who remembers altavista? Search engines DO die.
Ha. Then what are the people who use Tor and other onion browsers?
I’m genuinely asking.
Like what Queen Elizabeth just received?
ML/NJ
Or bots.
People just flat out refuse to give bots the credit they’re due.
Thanks for the info and links! I”ll check it out later tonight.👍
Duckduckgo covers a lot of different search engines from around the world in addition to their own. It’s more like a compilation. For anything political it is certainly better than Google. If you’re looking for scientific publications or patents Google is still the best. Other than that avoid Google.
Google even censors non-political stuff. Instead of giving you what you search for they only give you what they think you meant to search for. Very frustrating.
But as for anything that offends to left then- yes you can’t look there.
Since the NYT is behind a paywall, do they mention if they searched various things to see if the conspiracy theorists are telling the truth, or is this just another reason to attack people they disagree with.
“Censoring search results and aligning search results to favor one political party is an illegal political contribution-in-kind and the executives at Google are long overdue to be charged and fined.”
—
I agree that a legal & PAC regulatory case could be made on that basis for any number of IT entities (e.g. social media).
I used to use Startpage/ixquick. But they rely on Google (but protect you from being logged).
Changed to DDG a couple of years ago.
I’ve used Duck Duck for years.
So now Duck Duck users are “Conspiracy Theorists?”
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