"Chinese State Media Propaganda Found in 88% of Google, Bing News Searches"

According to new research at Brookings Institution, Chinese state media have proven very effective at influencing search engine results for users seeking information on Xinjiang, a region of China where the Uyghur ethnic minority has been subjected to what the State Department calls genocide.  The researchers also studied search engine results for Chinese state propaganda relating to the COVID-19 pandemic, a topic that Beijing has proven eager to control due to widespread condemnation of its botched early response to the crisis.  The research team compiled daily data over 120 days on 12 terms related to Xinjiang and COVID-19 from five different sources: Google Search, Google News, Bing Search, Bing News, and YouTube, which Google owns.  The researchers found that at least one Chinese state-backed news outlet appeared in the top 10 results in 88% of news searches.  State media appeared even more often on YouTube, showing up in 98% of searches.  A Bing spokesperson provided a statement that said the company is "always looking for ways to learn and improve and are reviewing the detailed findings in this report." Google also issued a statement that it "actively works to combat coordinated influence and censorship operations while also protecting access to information and free expression online." Disinformation scholars called the Brookings Institution research vital because it focuses on search engines returning propaganda, which has historically been an understudied element of the disinformation landscape compared to more prominent threats such as bots and forged Twitter accounts.  According to Justin Sherman, a disinformation scholar at the Atlantic Council's Cyber Statecraft Initiative, the research underscores how vital it is for Google and Microsoft to do more to avoid disseminating propaganda in part by becoming more transparent about how their algorithms work.  Sherman noted that the search engines should consider applying the de-ranking policies, which are currently used to limit Russian state content to Chinese content.  Sherman stated that it is not surprising that the Chinese government is getting better and better at promoting its narrative through Western search engines.  Other disinformation experts said they were surprised by the degree to which Chinese state media is infiltrating Google and Microsoft search engines.  Adam Segal, the director of the Digital and Cyberspace Policy program at the Council on Foreign Relations, stated that Chinese state propaganda surfacing so consistently in the top 10 search results for Google and Bing is unexpected in part because of the perception that China and the West rely on "two separate internets."

CyberScoop reports: "Chinese State Media Propaganda Found in 88% of Google, Bing News Searches"