DuckDuckGo goes WOKE

[GreyGeek]

DuckDuckGo built its user base by not
1) linking your IP to your search requests
2) filtering your search results

Basically, DDG was using google, Yandex, Bing and other search engines to create your search list, ordering it by how close each listing was to your request. Or so we believed.

Gabriel Weinberg posted on Twitter than he is now doing all those things he promised not to do.

https://twitter.com/yegg/status/1501...tfw%7Ctwcamp%5 Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1502269911716216835%7Ctwgr% 5E%7Ctwcon%5Es3_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.was hingtonexaminer.com%2Fnews%2Fduckduckgo-slammed-for-downrating-russian-search-results

For those who can't/won't touch twitter
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/n...search-results

DuckDuckGo distinguished itself from other search engines by not tracking user data or selling that information to third parties while relying on affiliate links and nontargeted ads for its funding.
...
DuckDuckGo founder Gabriel Weinberg's Wednesday announcement that the search engine would update its search results so websites known for spreading Russian disinformation would be downranked was not received well by its fans on Twitter.

Tim Pool replied

DuckDuckGo destroys their only value proposition with a single tweet

PS- Snowhog told me that the top link isn't working. It seems that Twitter didn't want you to see the "%5"th Tweet for yourself to make up your own mind. Censorship limits the information you can use to form an intelligent opinion about a matter because the owners & managers of Twitter don't think you are smart enough to analyze all the data in a way that they can agree with. Too bad for you if you depend on Twitter for useful information.

[Fred47]

Two points 1. Putin is lying about everything related to his invasion. If you really want to know what he is saying just read Pravda 2. The Washington Examiner is not a reliable source maybe this explains it a bit better https://www.protocol.com/bulletins/g...russia-ukraine

[Goeroeboeroe]

Of course Putin is a liar. But so are (almost) all leaders at the moment. I don't want any search engine to decide for me who is lying or who is not.
And about the reliability of the source: this news was all over the internet.
Here in the European Union Russia Today and other Russian broadcasters connected to the Russian state are completely forbidden since a few days. So are even the websites of Russia Today c.s. Because they are spreading disinformation. What this disinformation is, decides the European Union. And of course western broadcasters and media never spread misinformation...
I think Putin is a brutal dictator. Not since he invaded Ukraine, but already much longer. For example because of the brutal way he 'pacified' Chechnya.
But what I think of Putin (or Biden, or Johnson, or Xi, or ...) is not interesting. I simply don't want authorities or companies to decide for me what is the truth.
And where is this going to end? Why not block websites that sympathise with Putin? All in the name of freedom, truth and peace, of course.
Spreading freedom by forbidding broadcasters and websites. George Orwell himself could not have dreamed of it.

[GreyGeek]

Of course Putin is a liar. But so are (almost) all leaders at the moment. I don't want any search engine to decide for me who is lying or who is not.
And about the reliability of the source: this news was all over the internet.

My view as well. American politicians have become experts in lying and shading the truth, and American news media make the politicians look like saints.

[jglen490]

Yep, almost every politician twists the truth, tells half-truths, engages in white lies, or just plain lies. We're in the political season here in the USA, there are plenty of examples everyday. The truth-tellers rarely survive; and the same with the out-right liars.

The "free" browsers continue to exist because they make money for the owner from advertisers. They do what they can to remain marginally profitable, or at least to not consistently lose much. They must change policies from time to time to remain viable, often driven by world events.

[TWPonKubuntu]

I dropped DDG from my list of search engines over a year ago. No loss...

[GreyGeek]

I dropped DDG (because if it dups Google's actions I might as well use Google) and use Google, Yandex, QWant, Startpage, ResultsHunter and a couple others, to get all sides of an issue. The trick is to filter the truth out of the garbage. Using dorking to fish out history helps eliminate current liars.

[jlittle]

Yep, almost every politician twists the truth, tells half-truths, engages in white lies, or just plain lies. We're in the political season here in the USA, there are plenty of examples everyday. The truth-tellers rarely survive; and the same with the out-right liars.

But why?

The reason is that voters don't like politicians who tell the truth. They want to hear lies that don't challenge them, that affirm their world view. Complaining about politicians' lies is avoiding the truth.

[chimak111]

I dropped DDG from my list of search engines over a year ago. No loss...

Same here. I now use the engine my browser provides.

Also from yegg:

In addition to down-ranking sites associated with disinformation, we also often place news modules and information boxes at the top of DuckDuckGo search results (where they are seen and clicked the most) to highlight quality information for rapidly unfolding topics.

I like "associated with" and "quality" But who decides? Not you, not me. But then questioning anything can get one labelled a conspiracy-monger at the very least.

BTW, blaming politicians is pointless. They're are bought by and controlled by various interests. But then that's a conspiracy as well.

[TWPonKubuntu]

My browser, Palemoon, a clone of Firefox, tried to default to Google as search engine. I deleted all search engine opinions and use only Startpage/Ixquick. Startpage is a meta search engine and I do get results from several of the major seach engines, including Google, but it is anonymous and my IP address is NOT passed to any of those other engines.
We live in an era in which personal privacy is being ignored... Be afraid, be very afraid...

[jglen490]

Yes, personal privacy is not respected in this era of the internet. Personal privacy has always been a target of the bad guys, but now the bad guys' tool bag has more has more tools, and more effective tools. Just be careful out there!