A recently leaked internal email calls Ben Shapiro, the conservative news commentator, a Nazi.
The leaked email has gone so viral that Ted Cruz questioned Google about the matter yesterday.
The email, written by a Google employee reads as follows:
“Today it is often 1 or 2 steps to nazis. If we understand that PragerU, Jordan Peterson, Ben Shapiro et al are nazis using the dog whistles you mention in step 1. I can receive these recommendations regardless of the content of what I’m looking at, and I have recorded thousands of internet users sharing the same experience..”
The offending email continues:
“I don’t think correctly identifying far-right content is beyond our capabilities. But if it is, why not go with Meredith’s suggestion of disabling the suggestions feature? This could be a significant step in terms of user trust.”
The email was obtained by Project Veritas. Veritas was launched by James Edward O’Keefe III, an American conservative political activist who produces secretly recorded undercover audio and video encounters with figures and workers in academic, governmental, and social service organizations.
Conservative nonprofit group Prager University and professor and author Jordan Peterson are also labeled as “Nazis” in the email.
In a Facebook post, Ben Shapiro, editor-in-chief of the Daily Wire, described the email as “UNBELIEVABLE.” Shapiro is a practicing Orthodox Jew and a graduate of a Yeshiva high school.
Shapiro further sent a tweet to YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki on Twitter, saying, “Hey, @SusanWojcicki, would love to discuss this with you. Do you think your employees should be cavalierly labeling those who militantly hate white supremacy “Nazis,” and then shaping algorithms on the basis of such lies?”
(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)
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18 Responses
This is why not to register as a Dem. Have a spine and join the right party.
ridiculous
Accusations of being a Nazi are thrown around too loosely. And so are accusations of the accusers. The article plainly states that “a Google employee” called Shapiro a Nazi, with no indication that the employee is authorized to speak on behalf of Google. I think YWN should revise its headline or add information about the Google employee’s authority to speak for Google.
And, just to be clear, I know nothing about Ben Shapiro and have no opinion about whether he is or is not a Nazi.
A dumb comment by a Google EMPLOYEE, please don’t sensationalise and spread mistruths.
Well what can you expect. Maybe this is a kitrug on all the while that yidden in Eretz Yisroel are so loosely throwing around that term against others they don’t like. So why should the world treat treat it as special.
What is going on with YWN lately? Its like our government – polar opposites clashing. People venting their opinion but often with little knowledge of the issue or situation.
Huju – how can you comment on a topic when you so clearly have no idea what you are talking about? If you do not know who Ben Shapiro is, you cannot fully understand why calling him a Nazi is completely ridiculous. If you do not understand that based on the information, it would be reasonable to assume that this is not just “some employee” of Google but rather someone who is able to directly affect search algorithms. That means that if he is able to influence his peers millions of people searching for Ben Shapiro would get a result that says he is a Nazi.
Doesn’t that frighten anyone else? What other things can they affect? We all use Google to search for information, what if that information was purposely geared to inspire hatred of a certain group…..like us? We should all be outraged about this and not chalk it up to just “some employee”
huju, this email is an internal email between “higher ups” in google trying to determine whether people should get to see videos about Ben Shapiro, etc., in their suggested videos bar, or, presumably, at all. The email was not meant to be released, but shows the thinking of the google executives about Ben Shapiro and others, and shows them potentially shaping the internet’s ability to access content about Ben Shapiro at all. This is far more sinister than a mere verbal accusation.
If you watch Google on an almost daily basis, you wouldn’t try to paint this as some “rogue” employee by suggesting it is fake news since the so-called “rogue” employee (who shares the same values as the whole corporation) isn’t authorized to speak.
Secondly, that is why they call these people – including those fired – whistleblowers. Because they aren’t authorized to speak in public, only to collude in public.
As far as the N word being tossed around loosely, these mentals never really did learn what a Nazi actually is or was. They believe they are actually that Jewish Libertarians like Prager are the real thing!
And THESE are the people who are controlling what the general public thinks and sees…
Huju,
I have to tell you, most of your comment makes no sense.
Did you even watch the project veritas video? It’s clear that this is around in Google! This is the discussion there. however, as Ben Shapiro usually responds when someone calls him that word, he will point to his yarmulka sitting on his head and say, “You stupid people, what you’re saying doesn’t make sense because I can’t be an orthodox Jew and be one of those at the same time.”
Let me ask you do you know that Ben Shapiro where is his yarmulka ALL the time, no matter where he is and where he’s being interviewed? If there is anyone, and I mean any one of the conservative talkers who are shomer Shabbos, let alone Jewish, Ben Shapiro does a wonderful representation. Like I said, he has no problem wearing a yarmulka no matter where he is, no matter where the interview is, no matter who he’s on stage with. A tip of the yarmulka should go to him slightly more then the radio host out of Seattle.
Ben doesn’t hide the fact that he is a front person, in fact almost mentions it one way or another during each show, especially during commercials when he’s advertising non-kosher Foods. He will clearly say I can’t eat it because it’s not Kosher but this is what my colleagues say….
> huju
> The article plainly states that “a Google employee” called Shapiro a Nazi, with no indication that the employee is authorized to speak on behalf of Google.
Using your methodology , I could argue that nothing in the article states that the employee was NOT authorized to speak on behalf of Google. And more important, nothing in the article indicates that ANYONE from Google called out the employee for that email. In other words, nothing indicates that even one single employee in the company represented anything but the most extreme left wing hate ideology.
Leaving the game of semantics aside, it is clear that is being done in the context of those who have control and give direction on what and how Google searches et al show and present.
Background on Veritas and James O Keefe – he is not a news reporter. He is a right wing a·gent provocateur.
In all his past cases he has twisted and misrepresented the audio and the videos.
In this case , do we know what the dog whistles in step 1 are?
Do we know who Meredith is ?
Do we know what was on this email chain ?
Take anyone’s emails out of context and you can create the wrong impression.
He has been sued and was made to pay for one of his shenanigans.
In October 2014 O’Keefe and his two colleagues attempted to bait staffers for Congressman Jared Polis (D-CO) and then-U.S. Senator Mark Udall, as well as independent expenditure organizations, into approving voter fraud, according to several staffers who interacted with O’Keefe and his colleagues. Staffers began photographing O’Keefe’s crew and advising them that what they were advocating was illegal; one nonprofit said they contacted police.
A month before the launch of Donald Trump’s presidential campaign, the Trump Foundation donated $10,000 to O’Keefe’s Project Veritas. O’Keefe attended, as a guest of the Trump campaign, the final presidential debate, and was later available in the spin room following the Las Vegas event.
O’Keefe and colleagues were arrested in the Hale Boggs Federal Complex in New Orleans in January 2010 and charged with entering federal property under false pretenses with the intent of committing a felony, at the office of United States Senator Mary Landrieu, a Democrat.O’Keefe and the others pleaded guilty on May 26. O’Keefe was sentenced to three years’ probation, 100 hours of community service and a $1,500 fine.
having used an email address in corporate america for almost 25 years, I can tell you any email I send using my work account with certain “buzzwords” are automatically flagged by the it department. there is no way google it department doesnt flag on such a word. moreover, if the writers manager saw the email and didnt say boo, that is a bigger legal headache for google.
jackkass. you are a pathetic Democrat creature who has an agenda to spread official DNC talking points on this forum. Most people here will not buy your propaganda.
OK, this whole situation is obviously terrible, but if they go with the solution of stopping the suggestions algorithm altogether it would be great! Go back to the simple functionality of the old days.
I’m basically a right-winger, but even I have to admit, I get annoyed by it constantly recommending Steven Crowder, Ben Shapiro, Joe Rogan, etc. I don’t enjoy, watch, or listen to any of them.
Stupid email but in an organization as large as Google, there are zealots on the left and right. As far as Shapiro, he is best ignored since his raison de etre’ is to troll right-wing tropes using his asserted “frum ID” as a cover for his racist themes.
jackk, stop lying. James O’Keefe is an investigative reporter, just as legitimate as any other. Your claim that “In all his past cases he has twisted and misrepresented the audio and the videos” is an outright LIE and SLANDER. You have no right to slander someone, whether Jewish or not. On the contrary, alone among investigative journalists he makes his complete raw footage public, so anyone interested can see the full context of what’s in the edited video. Not once has one of his videos turned out to deceptively edited. Which is more than can be said for such wonderful “journalists” as Katie Couric.
Yes, like any reporter, occasionally his investigations don’t pan out and he doesn’t publish them. If he suspects someone is doing something wrong and it turns out they aren’t, there’s no story. You can’t seriously think there is a reporter in the world who has not had that experience. (Except, of course, for the ones who do no actual investigations, and just make their stories up. They never strike out. O’Keefe is not one of those.)
And yes, he was arrested for the “crime” of entering a federal building without saying who he really was. In other words, doing undercover journalism, like every investigative reporter in the world. Obviously none of them announce at the entrance, “Hi, I’m Mike Wallace and I’m here to catch you doing something wrong”. And no other reporter has ever been arrested for this. But apparently it is against the law, so he had no choice but to plead guilty. The prosecutor who brought this ridiculous charge against him later turned out to be massively corrupt.
Prager U and Ben Shapiro are the best!
“Stupid email but in an organization as large as Google, there are zealots on the left and right.”
I highly doubt it, and the proof is that if the shoe was on the other foot it would be in the news