Google Search Affects Our Reality

I wanted to share my Google search findings; I went into my own rabbit-hole of linguistic angst on this journey!

 I performed a Google search for "Islam and the Holocaust", and  “Project Aladin” was top on the list, a website translating key Holocaust literature into Farsi and Arabic.  Next up was a Wikipedia entry: “Arab and Muslim Rescue Efforts During the Holocaust”--again, very positive. I began to wonder if my research habits were affecting what the search engine told me.  Going on, there was a link to an Oxford Handbook about “Role of Muslims and the Holocaust”, followed by a Washington Post article on “Why Muslims from around the World Should Remember the Holocaust.” There is an Aish article on Muslim Heroes of the Holocaust, a news article from Israeli newspaper about a “Saudi-based Muslim body rejects Holocaust denial” and a blog from the Times of Israel from a Muslim who advocates celebration of Holocaust Memorial Day.  In short, all the posts were positive, which pleases me to no end.  Just to make sure my global search history wasn't affecting the results, I logged off my google account,  and signed on as a guest.  The same posts showed up.

HERE’S THE CATCH: …. And I beg you to do this in other languages and let me know the results....

I just did the search in Hebrew:  האסלאם והשואה

What came up were (and I paraphrase the titles as I translate them):

First, a Wikipedia article on Muslim Antisemitism.

Next: a Wikipedia article on Jews rescued by Muslims in the Holocaust (this is different from the English article that had the focus on the Muslim efforts)

Next: An article on Hitler and the Muslims

Next: A positive article about Morocco and the Jews in the Holocaust.

In general, it alternated between examples of antisemitism and kindness.

Then I did the search in Arabic: الإسلام والمحرقة   

(Note: My Arabic is not on par with my Hebrew.)

First, a broadcast from about the president of Turkey comparing Islamophobia to antisemitism after the Holocaust.

Next: an article about Holocaust Denial

Next: an Al-Jazeera article comparing Islamophobia to Holocaust Denial

Next: a blog in which the author doubts the enormity of the Holocaust

In short, there was a lot about comparing the Holocaust with current situations in the Muslim (and Arab) world.

Next, of course, was Persian:اسلام و هولوکاست

I was intrigued here because the Persian internet users are often part of the Persian diaspora, after the Islamic Revolution. Hence, they are likely to get a mix of media input except in Iran, the original homeland, where the censorship is much more defining.

Here, I was wowed.  The first four entries that came up, like in English, were all part of Project Aladin. Then there was a site from the US Holocaust Museum and Memorial.

Next was a Farsi wikipedia page (that does not have an exact English equivalent option) about Holocaust Denial in Iran.  Then there was an op-ed piece that was insulted by politicians who reject Holocaust Denial.

I was disappointed in Google for these differences. It was not a matter of my making Google settings multilingual; my multilingual settings kept the same trend of positive answers.  It was a matter of what language I used to input my request. The language I use affects the worldview that Google gives me through its texts. This is terrifying, and something we all need to keep in mind.