Mary Margaret Olohan on April 12, 2019
Google backed down after labeling the pro-life “Unplanned” movie as “propaganda” and changed the movie’s label.
“Unplanned,” the story of former abortion clinic director and now pro-life activist Abby Johnson, was listed on Google’s search engine as a “drama/propaganda” film, according to a Thursday tweet from The Daily Signal’s senior writer and producer, Kelsey Bolar. The genre now says “drama.”
The film was released on March 29 amidst controversy over its R rating and censorship on Twitter.
“Who knew that ‘propaganda’ was a movie genre? @Google once again exposing its gross political bias,” Harkness said in a tweet.
Who knew that “propaganda” was a movie genre? @Google once again exposing its gross political bias. @UnplannedMovie pic.twitter.com/jOh6TlqQ7C
— Kelsey Bolar (Harkness) (@kelseybolar) April 11, 2019
Live Action founder and President Lila Rose pointed out in a tweet that though “Unplanned” was labeled as propaganda, a 1935 Nazi propaganda film is listed on Google search engine results as “war/history.”
“Yesterday @Google had their contempt for pro-life voices on full display by labeling @UnplannedMovie as ‘propaganda.’ Meanwhile, ‘The Triumph of the Will’ a literal Nazi propaganda film is labeled as ‘history/war’ Was this just another ‘mistake,’ or ‘algorithm” error?” Rose tweeted.
Yesterday @Google had their contempt for pro-life voices on full display by labeling @UnplannedMovie as “propaganda.”
Meanwhile, “The Triumph of the Will” a literal Nazi propaganda film is labeled as “history/war”
Was this just another “mistake,” or “algorithm” error? pic.twitter.com/iPuCZIRpeG
— Lila Rose (@LilaGraceRose) April 12, 2019
Google adjusted the movie’s label as of Friday.
“When we’re made aware of disputed facts in our Knowledge Graph, we work to fix the issues, as we’ve done in this case,” a Google spokesperson told The Daily Caller News Foundation.
Google’s knowledge graphs or panels are updated as internet information changes. “Knowledge panels are updated automatically as information changes on the web, but Google also considers changes in two main ways: directly from the entities depicted in the knowledge panel, and from general user feedback,” a Google information page says.
Johnson, who left her practice after witnessing an ultrasound during an abortion, expressed frustration at Google for labeling her story as propaganda.
“Executives at Google should actually watch the film before labeling it propaganda or anything else,” Johnson told TheDCNF. “They are showing their obvious bias against people finding out the truth about abortion. What about the movie ‘Obvious Child’, which Planned Parenthood heavily promoted? Or any movie by Michael Moore. Why aren’t those labeled propaganda? It’s a disservice to not only free speech, but also practical common sense, when they are actively hampering the the truth about a divisive issue in our country to be known.”
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