Microsoft Blames “System Error,” Denies Censoring Chinese Search Results

Internet users, hungry for instant but complete information, often type a search term and check out top offerings. Depending on a user’s expertise, discrepancies or missing data may or may not be apparent. “On Tuesday, campaigners at FreeWeibo, a tool that allows uncensored search of Chinese blogs, revealed that Bing returns radically different results in the US for English and simplified Chinese language searches on a series of controversial terms,” reports Dominic Rushe for the Guardian. Microsoft launched an investigation and suggests a system error contributed to discrepancies. The activists point out that any user can experiment with search results from a variety of sources. Commenters point out other discrepancies: For example, a US Google or Bing search for specific Christian religions produces maps with churches – yet no maps in searches for Christianity, Islam or Judaism. Companies like Microsoft and Google have joined human rights groups to protect internet freedom of expression and privacy through the Global Network Initiative, but activists point out that tech firms also cooperated with the US National Security Agency in monitoring internet searches. – YaleGlobal