Google changed search results for the word “Jew” on Tuesday after briefly providing an anti-Semitic cliche as a first definition.
Prior to the change, the search engine listed the term as a verb which it says means “to haggle with someone in a stingy or petty manner.”
The “offensive” label appeared in the result. Google wrote that the term’s origins lie in 19th-century stereotypes “associating Jews with commerce and loan sharks.”
Receive our free daily edition by email so you don’t miss any of the best news Free registration!
Among the variants – of time – of the word we find the preterite, jewedand present continuous, jewingaccording to the search engine, which specifies that the definition comes fromOxford Languages.
“It is deeply disturbing that Google’s artificial intelligence does not recognize obvious anti-Semitic hate speech in search results for the term ‘Jew’,” the World Jewish Congress said. “We expect corrections to be made immediately. »
Google pulled the definition following criticism on social media, including from Jewish groups.
We appreciate that @Google removed an offensive definition of the word “Jew” as its first dictionary entry after ADL and others reported it. There is no excuse for the first result of the word “Jew” on Google to turn up an obviously antisemitic result. pic.twitter.com/z7Ajd5rwrD
” Our apologies. Google licenses definitions from different dictionaries. We only display offensive definitions by default if they constitute the primary meaning of a term. As this is not the case here, we have blocked the display and forwarded our comments to the partner [Oxford Languages] for a more in-depth examination, wrote Google on Twitter.
You are one of our loyal readers!
We are glad you read X items from Times of Israel last month.
That’s what we work for every day: to provide discerning readers like you with relevant media coverage of Israel, the Middle East and the Jewish World. Unlike many other outlets, our content is accessible for free – with no paywall popping up from the first paragraph. But our work is proving increasingly costly. This is why we invite readers, who can and for whom Times of Israel in French has become important, to support us by joining the Community of Times of Israel in French. For the amount of your choice, once a month or once a year, you too can contribute to this quality independent journalism and enjoy ad-free reading.
