Google's result for Republican senator shows image with 'bigot' written across it The image was pulled from a 2012 blog post.

Google's result for
Republican senator
shows image with 'bigot'
written across it
The image was pulled from a 2012 blog
post.

Next to that description you may also have
seen, on Friday, an image of Wade with the
word "BIGOT" written across it.
It was the latest incident in which Google
displayed erroneous and biased information
in its search results. On Thursday, the
company listed Nazism as the ideology of the
California Republican Party , in effect
highlighting some of automation's
shortcomings. Google algorithmically pulls
from high-profile sources such as
Wikipedia for general explanations and
backgrounds. But Wikipedia sometimes has
its pages " vandalized ," or edited to deliver a
certain message or opinion. That led to
incorrect information showing up in a search
on the CAGOP on Google.
In response to that previous incident, Google
said: "We don't bias our search results
toward any political party. Sometimes people
vandalize public information sources, like
Wikipedia, which can impact the information
that appears in search. We have systems in
place that catch vandalism before it impacts
search results, but occasionally errors get
through, and that's what happened here."
The image of Wade is from a Feb. 2012 post
by a blogger named Matt Comer. He wasn't
happy that Wade, who was on the
Greensboro City Council at the time,
supported a state constitutional amendment
that banned same-sex marriages and civil
unions. Comer wrote, "Let me put this as
plainly as I can: Mrs. Wade, you are a bigot."
Comer didn't immediately respond to a
request for comment.
A Google representative said information and
images from its knowledge panels, which are
intended to provide quick search results
without making users click on links, are
"automatically sourced from around the
web."
Google removed the "BIGOT" image Friday
afternoon. The representative added that
individuals can also "suggest edits and
request to change their primary photos on
Knowledge Panels" by getting verified.
Anyone with a knowledge panel can click on
the link underneath the panel to be verified.
Wade is currently running for re-election
against Democrat Michael Garrett. She didn't
immediately respond to a request for
comment.
First published June 1, 3:39 p.m. PT
Update, 5:09 p.m.: Adds comment from
Google.

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