We're also in the process of thinking about other types of interventions. In addition to this approach, for newsworthy topics we're also continuing to highlight reputable news coverage and reliable “instant answers” at the top of our search results where they are seen and clicked the most. We are simply using the fact that that these sites are engaging in active disinformation campaigns as a ranking signal that the content they produce is of lower quality, just like there are signals for spammy sites and other lower-quality content. It's also important to note that down-ranking is different from censorship. Current examples are Russian state-sponsored media sites like RT and Sputnik. Disinformation sites that deliberately put out false information to intentionally mislead people directly cut against that utility. The primary utility of a search engine is to provide access to accurate information. Weinberg did not detail in his tweet which Russian propaganda sites DuckDuckGo would target, or whether the search engine will target other types of disinformation, such as on climate change or COVID-19.ĭuckDuckGo provided Engadget with the following statement regarding this change:
It’s unclear whether DuckDuckGo will make a wider effort to down-rank disinformation. Many fans of DuckDuckGo criticized the search engine for its decision on Russia, likening it to “censorship”.
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