Racism and the White House: What happened with Google Maps this week?

Google Maps was at the center of Internet outrage this week with demands for apologies, and heads to roll, in an unfortunate set of circumstances that associated 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue with racist search terms.

It emerged that searches of "n****r house" or "n****r king" in Google Maps brought up the home of Barack Obama, and Google very quickly responded with an investigation. In the meantime, the story took off and all eyes were on the Mountain View giant.

It's not as if racism is new to the Internet; let's be honest this place is full of assholes, but for it to appear as a top result in such an important Google service raised questions. How could this happen? How could Google let it happen?

Unsurprisingly, it was down to the aforementioned assholes that roam the digital plains and spread their toxicity wherever they can be seen. It's no secret that Google is constantly probing the web and using that crowdsourced pile of data to drive features of its services.

Yeah, you can already see where this is going!

In online discussions of the White House, racist slurs were used frequently enough for Google's systems to strongly associate them with the location. That crowdsourced data scoured from every corner of the web mixed with some offensive search terms in Google Maps produced a very embarrassing result for Google, and one that was offensive to a lot of people.

"We were deeply upset by this issue, and we are fixing it now," stated Jen Fitzpatrick, VP, Engineering & Product Management, Google. "We apologize this has taken some time to resolve."

As of now, Google is making key changes to its algorithms that will likely exclude information containing offensive terms when mining data to associate with physical locations. Google has already developed preventative safeguards for its general Search, and they are now being built-upon for Maps and other services.

"Again, we sincerely apologize for the offense this has caused, and we will do better in the future," Fitzpatrick concluded.

Written by: James Delahunty @ 21 May 2015 23:16

Ketola

Rather than getting all worked up by the search results, people should be concerned about people actually doing searches with such search terms.

It's sad really. If South Park came out today there'd be hordes of people with pitch forks and torches outside Comedy Central HQ.

Jari Ketola
Administrator
http://www.AfterDawn.com

22.5.2015 00:59 #1

DXR88

Originally posted by Ketola: Rather than getting all worked up by the search results, people should be concerned about people actually doing searches with such search terms.

It's sad really. If South Park came out today there'd be hordes of people with pitch forks and torches outside Comedy Central HQ.
its classic reverse racism, something the colored community is excellent at.

take the term Cracka House for instance, and put it in your favorite search engine. been there for years, did the white community get all pissy? no, no we did not.

22.5.2015 01:31 #2

TrinUK

Trin - Making Digital Waves

22.5.2015 09:12 #3

ddp

play nice!!!

22.5.2015 11:53 #4

deucezulu22

22.5.2015 19:55 #5

DXR88

Originally posted by TrinUK: Originally posted by DXR88: Originally posted by Ketola: Rather than getting all worked up by the search results, people should be concerned about people actually doing searches with such search terms.

It's sad really. If South Park came out today there'd be hordes of people with pitch forks and torches outside Comedy Central HQ.
its classic reverse racism, something the colored community is excellent at.

take the term Cracka House for instance, and put it in your favorite search engine. been there for years, did the white community get all pissy? no, no we did not. You're an idiot with intent to start a racial argument. The fact that you mentioned "the colored community" shows what you are about. The point of the article is that no racism should feature in the search engine despite nationality and yes others have complained about Crack House so shut it! tsk...tsk, did i hit a nerve?

22.5.2015 20:43 #6

DXR88

Originally posted by deucezulu22: Originally posted by DXR88: Originally posted by Ketola: Rather than getting all worked up by the search results, people should be concerned about people actually doing searches with such search terms.

It's sad really. If South Park came out today there'd be hordes of people with pitch forks and torches outside Comedy Central HQ.
its classic reverse racism, something the colored community is excellent at.

take the term Cracka House for instance, and put it in your favorite search engine. been there for years, did the white community get all pissy? no, no we did not. What a nice generalize, ignorant comment you have made.
it pleases me to know you like it.

22.5.2015 20:44 #7

deucezulu22

Originally posted by DXR88: Originally posted by deucezulu22: Originally posted by DXR88: Originally posted by Ketola: Rather than getting all worked up by the search results, people should be concerned about people actually doing searches with such search terms.

It's sad really. If South Park came out today there'd be hordes of people with pitch forks and torches outside Comedy Central HQ.
its classic reverse racism, something the colored community is excellent at.

take the term Cracka House for instance, and put it in your favorite search engine. been there for years, did the white community get all pissy? no, no we did not. What a nice generalize, ignorant comment you have made.
it pleases me to know you like it. If that's what you want to believe.

22.5.2015 20:46 #8

DXR88

I was hoping for more fish to nibble on the hatebait, its just so hard to get a rouse out of people these days......its like they don't care.

AD's probably bad water for the fish I'm looking for. I'll head on over to lake CNN.

22.5.2015 21:07 #9

ddp

what did I say above?

22.5.2015 21:17 #10

CarpeSol

This guy is a troll, and you need to stop feeding him. I've tried reporting posts of his for a while now, but the button is broken.

23.5.2015 08:40 #11

KillerBug

Originally posted by TrinUK: The fact that you mentioned "the colored community" shows what you are about. To be fair, I don't think "colored" is a slur. If it was, then "The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People" would change their name.

"I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character." - Dr Martin Luther King

Wouldn't it be wonderful if we lived in a world where everyone simply hated him for the content of his character? I honestly wonder...if Dr King knew that one day racist people voting FOR a black man in spite of his platform would lead to the first black president...would he be happy about that?

IF you are ignorant enough to hate black people because of the melanin in their skin, please just shut up about the president...he has murdered US citizens without trial and committed treason by his own definition of treason. Surely even the most vile KKK moron has to consider that a worse thing than failing to be born white.

If you don't have much experience with black people, don't let the president define a racial standard for you...you wouldn't want people associating you with the monstrosities of George W Bush, would you???

23.5.2015 11:58 #12

DXR88

Originally posted by KillerBug: Originally posted by TrinUK: The fact that you mentioned "the colored community" shows what you are about. To be fair, I don't think "colored" is a slur. If it was, then "The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People" would change their name.

"I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character." - Dr Martin Luther King

Wouldn't it be wonderful if we lived in a world where everyone simply hated him for the content of his character? I honestly wonder...if Dr King knew that one day racist people voting FOR a black man in spite of his platform would lead to the first black president...would he be happy about that?

IF you are ignorant enough to hate black people because of the melanin in their skin, please just shut up about the president...he has murdered US citizens without trial and committed treason by his own definition of treason. Surely even the most vile KKK moron has to consider that a worse thing than failing to be born white.

If you don't have much experience with black people, don't let the president define a racial standard for you...you wouldn't want people associating you with the monstrosities of George W Bush, would you??? the thing about racism is, it only works if you are a racist. you wouldn't care other wise.

Martin Luther King fought for equality for all people, a message that was lost in some racial propaganda machine.

23.5.2015 12:46 #13

qazwiz

Originally posted by Ketola: Rather than getting all worked up by the search results, people should be concerned about people actually doing searches with such search terms.......
more to the point, where is the outrage that the social environ that allows haters to exist on the internet ???
be they KKK wannabees or Anti Christian Sodomites, Haters on the net are where the algorithm got the association.

qazwiz is qazwiz everywhere. If you see me say HI!

23.5.2015 13:25 #14

DarthMopar

Originally posted by CarpeSol: This guy is a troll, and you need to stop feeding him. I've tried reporting posts of his for a while now, but the button is broken. I've noticed that....been broken for MONTHS! Admin, PLEASE fix this.

23.5.2015 23:29 #15

bsharpb

Originally posted by DXR88: Originally posted by Ketola: Rather than getting all worked up by the search results, people should be concerned about people actually doing searches with such search terms.

It's sad really. If South Park came out today there'd be hordes of people with pitch forks and torches outside Comedy Central HQ.
its classic reverse racism, something the colored community is excellent at.

take the term Cracka House for instance, and put it in your favorite search engine. been there for years, did the white community get all pissy? no, no we did not. Twits like you really make me laugh! There is no such thing as, "Reverse Racism". It is simply a word manufactured by the media and Haters like you in an attempt to justify and ease your racist attitudes and conduct. As if to say, "See, they are racist too, so there"!! Obviously, you lack the mental capacity to understand what the word 'Racism' or 'Racist' means. Racism is a term used to describe either individual or systematic attitudes and feelings of racial superiority. Now, please explain how this is flipped on its head to then become, "Reverse Racism". Secondly, the word 'Cracker' is a term used by those in primarily Southern States, and by primarily WHITE PEOPLE to describe other whites who live a certain culture or life style, and is similar to the word, 'Red Neck'. This is typical of those like you, who will do or say anything regardless of how irrational it is, in an attempt to either justify or smooth over their racist, discriminatory, or bigoted behavior.

25.5.2015 11:02 #16

DXR88

Originally posted by bsharpb: Originally posted by DXR88: Originally posted by Ketola: Rather than getting all worked up by the search results, people should be concerned about people actually doing searches with such search terms.

It's sad really. If South Park came out today there'd be hordes of people with pitch forks and torches outside Comedy Central HQ.
its classic reverse racism, something the colored community is excellent at.

take the term Cracka House for instance, and put it in your favorite search engine. been there for years, did the white community get all pissy? no, no we did not. Twits like you really make me laugh! There is no such thing as, "Reverse Racism". It is simply a word manufactured by the media and Haters like you in an attempt to justify and ease your racist attitudes and conduct. As if to say, "See, they are racist too, so there"!! Obviously, you lack the mental capacity to understand what the word 'Racism' or 'Racist' means. Racism is a term used to describe either individual or systematic attitudes and feelings of racial superiority. Now, please explain how this is flipped on its head to then become, "Reverse Racism". Secondly, the word 'Cracker' is a term used by those in primarily Southern States, and by primarily WHITE PEOPLE to describe other whites who live a certain culture or life style, and is similar to the word, 'Red Neck'. This is typical of those like you, who will do or say anything regardless of how irrational it is, in an attempt to either justify or smooth over their racist, discriminatory, or bigoted behavior. Oh boy! its a big one!

25.5.2015 13:54 #17

TrinUK

Originally posted by DXR88: Originally posted by TrinUK: Originally posted by DXR88: Originally posted by Ketola: Rather than getting all worked up by the search results, people should be concerned about people actually doing searches with such search terms.

It's sad really. If South Park came out today there'd be hordes of people with pitch forks and torches outside Comedy Central HQ.
its classic reverse racism, something the colored community is excellent at.

take the term Cracka House for instance, and put it in your favorite search engine. been there for years, did the white community get all pissy? no, no we did not. You're an idiot with intent to start a racial argument. The fact that you mentioned "the colored community" shows what you are about. The point of the article is that no racism should feature in the search engine despite nationality and yes others have complained about Crack House so shut it! tsk...tsk, did i hit a nerve? Nope not at all... just exposing what you really are.

Trin - Making Digital Waves

28.5.2015 12:25 #18

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