Google defends decision to refuse Hong Kong request to make Chinese national anthem top search result for certain keyword queries
- Tech giant makes it clear it will not manually manipulate organic web listings to determine ranking of a specific page
- Beijing weighs in on matter by vowing to back Hong Kong government and reminding Google of its ‘obligation’ to disseminate correct information
Google has defended its decision to refuse a request by Hong Kong’s government to ensure the Chinese national anthem appears as a top search result for certain keywords, making it clear that it will not manually manipulate organic web listings.
But the company pledged to continue to engage with the government and explain how its platforms and removal policies worked.
The tech giant broke its silence three days after Secretary for Security Chris Tang Ping-keung accused the company of “double standards” and questioned its explanation that it could not change the algorithm-determined results.
Beijing also weighed in on the matter on Wednesday by reminding Google of its “obligation” to disseminate correct information to the public.
In a reply to the Post, the company maintained it was not its practice to manually manipulate web listings.
“Google handles billions of search queries every day, so we build ranking systems to automatically surface relevant, high quality, and helpful information. We do not manually manipulate organic web listings to determine the ranking of a specific page,” its spokesman said.
“In keeping with our commitment to maximise access to information, we do not remove web results except for specific reasons outlined in our global policy documentation.”
Google’s policies state it will block or remove search results related to child sexual abuse imagery or material, highly personal information and spam, as well as content demanded by website owners and valid legal requests.