Australians do not want to be Google’s ‘guinea pigs’ in news experiments

Four in five respondents said it was “disturbing” that a search engine could remove Australian news from its results.

Australians do not want to be used as guinea pigs in Google’s lobbying efforts. Picture: AFP

A majority of Australians oppose Google‘s “disturbing” news experiments in which the tech giant buried news links, new research has found.

The Centre for Responsible Technology surveyed a nationally representative sample of 1003 Australians, finding that four in five respondents said it was “disturbing” that a search engine could remove Australian news from its results.

Eighty per cent of Australians agree that search engines should be required to disclose details of the experiments that they have conducted, that search engine experiments should only be conducted on those who have explicitly consented to participate in the experiment, and that it is disturbing that a search engine can remove Australian news from results.

Three in four Australians agree that the algorithms that search engines use should be publicly available so users can assess them, while less than half of Australians (47 per cent) agree that search engines are private companies and should be allowed to manage their users and algorithms however they like.

Peter Lewis, the director of the Australia Institute’s Centre for Responsible Technology, said Australians do not want to be used as guinea pigs in Google’s lobbying efforts.

“This experiment should be called off immediately,” Mr Lewis said.

“Our research shows that there is strong opposition in the Australian community to Google’s behaviour. Withholding news, especially during a pandemic, is reckless and irresponsible.”

In actions that were criticised by Treasurer Josh Frydenberg and others, Google said last week it was burying links from traditional media outlets in some search results, in an escalation of the dispute between mainstream pub­lishers and the tech giant.

If world-first media bargaining legislation passes, Google and Facebook would be forced into mediation with publishers over the value of their news, and would face fines of up to $10m if they ­failed to comply.

Mr Lewis added that the he believes at Friday‘s Senate inquiry hearing, in which Google, Facebook, news executives and the ACCC will appear, the onus will be on Google to justify why it is using Australians as “guinea pigs” to promote their commercial interests, and to explain how their algorithm calculates value and whether it accepts that journalism is of a higher value than other information.

He said Google also needs to reflect on how their business model is contributing to the collapse in public trust and standards of civil discourse, and disclose any other “experiments” it is intending to undertake on Australian users.

Peter Lewis

“Any attempts to use the data gathered from this so called experiment are already tainted by the secrecy surrounding Google’s algorithm. The only thing this experiment has shown is the extraordinary level of control that these global corporations have over the flow of information in our society,” Mr Lewis said.

Google was contacted for comment.

In its submission to the senate inquiry, the tech giant said the bargaining code would “set an untenable precedent for [Google’s] businesses and the digital economy”, and would undermine the foundation of how the internet works.

“There is a clear path to a workable code that allows Google to reach commercial arrangements with news publishers under our licensing program, Google News Showcase. With straightforward amendments we can have a workable code for all parties,” Google said.

Facebook in its submission called on the government to consider offering a ‘grace period’, where digital platforms are given assurances they will not be designated (or subject to the threat of penalties or damages) if they enter into satisfactory commercial agreements with news organisations within a reasonable period of time.

“By compelling Facebook to pay for news content in a way that is not connected to commercial reality, the prospect of this legislation has already deterred investment and innovation in Australian news,” the company said. ”It has had the precise opposite effect to its stated intention.

“We believe the best way to improve both the sustainability of the Australian news ecosystem and collaboration between digital platforms and news publishers is for any regulatory framework to encourage commercial arrangements between platforms and publishers. Facebook remains willing to pay Australian news publishers for news content made available on Facebook, as long as it is subject to genuine commercial considerations.”

News publishers, including Nine and News Corp, publisher of The Australian, are broadly supportive of the code.