Shame On Google For Censoring Michelle Obama Monkey Image
Robert Paul Reyes
November 26, 2009
For most of the past week, when someone typed 'Michelle Obama' in the popular search engine Google, one of the first images that came up was a picture of the American first lady altered to resemble a monkey.
On Wednesday morning, the racially offensive image appeared to have been removed from any Google Image searches for 'Michelle Obama.'" CNN.Com
Google's action is censorship -- plain and simple. Everyone with at least a third grade education realizes that not all images that come up on a Google image search bear the company's seal of approval. It isn't human beings who decide which images will appear first on a search query. Results are based on computer algorithms that are way too complicated for this humble blogger to understand.
Does Google plan on banning every image of Michelle Obama that hasn't been photoshopped to make her look good? Once you start down that slippery slope...
I don't know what was the motivation behind the person who posted that unflattering image of Michelle Obama. It could have been a simple prank, but it was more likely the work of a racist.
Or perhaps the individual who posted the offensive photograph was simply sick and tired of the media fawning over Michelle Obama. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but most people would agree that the First Lady isn't very attractive. The press gushes over Ms. Obama as if she were the second coming of Jackie Kennedy. The fact is that Michelle is a plain-looking woman who has absolutely no sense of style.
But the blogger's reasons for publishing the Michelle Obama monkey pic are irrelevant; it should not have been deleted by Google.
Shame on Google! The Internet should be a bastion of freedom of speech!
Follow Robert Paul Reyes on Twitter: http://twitter.com/robertpaulreyes
On Wednesday morning, the racially offensive image appeared to have been removed from any Google Image searches for 'Michelle Obama.'" CNN.Com
Google's action is censorship -- plain and simple. Everyone with at least a third grade education realizes that not all images that come up on a Google image search bear the company's seal of approval. It isn't human beings who decide which images will appear first on a search query. Results are based on computer algorithms that are way too complicated for this humble blogger to understand.
Does Google plan on banning every image of Michelle Obama that hasn't been photoshopped to make her look good? Once you start down that slippery slope...
I don't know what was the motivation behind the person who posted that unflattering image of Michelle Obama. It could have been a simple prank, but it was more likely the work of a racist.
Or perhaps the individual who posted the offensive photograph was simply sick and tired of the media fawning over Michelle Obama. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but most people would agree that the First Lady isn't very attractive. The press gushes over Ms. Obama as if she were the second coming of Jackie Kennedy. The fact is that Michelle is a plain-looking woman who has absolutely no sense of style.
But the blogger's reasons for publishing the Michelle Obama monkey pic are irrelevant; it should not have been deleted by Google.
Shame on Google! The Internet should be a bastion of freedom of speech!
Follow Robert Paul Reyes on Twitter: http://twitter.com/robertpaulreyes
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