Is Google Antisemitic?

I’m not saying it definitively is—but I’m also not saying it definitively isn’t.

Case in point: I recently searched for artwork to create an Instagram post for my campaign for World Zionist Congress, running on The Jewish Future slate. I typed in “Zionist,” expecting a range of historical or cultural visuals. To my shock and awe, what I got was an avalanche of pro-Palestinian propaganda, activist slogans, and vintage “Free Palestine” iconography. I was like, WTAF. So, I started digging. And yikes.

From the Simon Wiesenthal Center I learned this charming fact:

Google’s head of diversity, Kamau Bobb, had written a virulently anti-Semitic internet post in a 2007 blog stating that Jews have "an insatiable appetite for war and killing." As head of diversity, Mr. Bobb was directly responsible for ensuring a workplace free of discrimination and bigotry. While Google acknowledged the problem and Mr. Bobb apologized, he was simply reassigned to a different department.

I googled DEI Bobb out of curiosity. Turns out he’s now a professor of STEM in Georgia. Of course he is. Ahhh…academia…the breeding ground of antisemitism and anti-Zionism. It’s just a crying shame that diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) folks can’t or refuse to see how we Jews—one of the smallest minorities on the farkakte planet—are actually one of them—a vilified minority. I wondered how deep the “shit” is baked into the digital cake. So, I kept digging.

On a lark, I jumped over to Thesaurus.com and searched “Zionist.” You would plotz if you saw what came up. (See above.) Adonis was palatable, but arsonist? I mean, antisemitic much? Imagine this is your first exposure to the issue. Say you’re a young, impressionable student who’s actually trying to read beyond the (mostly antisemitic) headlines and does a Google search. This is the disaster we find ourselves in. We, as in we Jews.

The world is being shaped—intellectually and emotionally—by not so random search results, whether we like it or not. Google is wearing a digital keffiyeh and I am over it. If the filter of our collective consciousness is biased, whether intentional or not, it affects everything: what articles get read, the selection of images which appear top of the fold, really everything that shapes narratives. AI is trained through the trove of information readily available on the internet, much of it from “reputable” media—outlets like The New York Times, which has been extensively criticized for its anti-Israel framing.

According to a rigorous law review study—which I happened to work on called “Words Matter”—The New York Times and other legacy media routinely omitted stories about the 70,000 Israeli civilians displaced as a result of the October 7 attacks and downplayed stories about the thousands of mortar attacks on Israel while the Gaza war became the top and only story for weeks on end. Not only prioritizing Palestinian narratives but promoting totally unsubstantiated facts on the ground painting Israel as war mongers. Defending Israel’s right to exist was nowhere on the agenda of the angry-mob bias lunatics stinking up the media, the internet, our universities, and city streets. If that’s the diet Google’s algorithm is binging on, then we’ve got a serious systemic cancer.

This isn’t just about bad optics. It’s mis—and—disinformation and it’s costing lives, empathy, and reveals a forbidden truth.

I’m not asking Google to push pro-Israel propaganda. I’m asking it to stop pushing any propaganda. Let’s give that curious 19-year-old a real chance at understanding something before they’re dragged into the digital mob mindset.

Bias in algorithms is like a cancer—undetectable till it’s too late. Is it too late? Let’s share this awareness, and join me in calling it out. If this makes me seem paranoid, fine. Block me. I’ll still be over here, staying true to my Won’t Be Silent mantra—my mission—my consciousness.

If we can’t trust the gatekeepers of our digital reality to show us all sides of the story, then we’re not living in a free society. We’re just scrolling through curated crap.

Please vote for The Jewish Future, Slate 20 for World Zionist Congress. It only takes 90 seconds.

1) GO HERE to register: https://bit.ly/3XM9DG6
2) Pay a $5 processing fee
3) You’ll receive an email with your unique pin code
4) Use the pin to log in
5) Be sure to scroll to The Jewish Future, #20