DuckDuckGo Down-Ranks Russian Disinformation, Users Aren’t Happy

With the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine, many countries have imposed heavy bans on Russia, and among them is the website DuckDuckGo. The website has taken the decision to down-rank all the sites which will be spreading Russian propaganda and disinformation. 

Gabriel Weinberg, the founder & CEO of DuckDuckGo announced in a tweet that from now onwards the secret search engine will be ensuring that the sites which release Russian disinformation will be sent down in the list.

In his tweet, he wrote, “At DuckDuckGo, we’ve been rolling out search updates that down-rank sites associated with Russian disinformation.” He also added, “Like so many others I am sickened by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the gigantic humanitarian crisis it continues to create. #StandWithUkraine️.”

Apart from this, at the starting of this month, DuckDuckGo also announced that they will end their relationship with search engine Yandex as it is owned by the Russian state.

According to the reports, not only DuckDuckGo, but social media websites like Facebook and Twitter have also taken the decision to update their policies in order to deal with the disinformation about Russia’s war. In line with this, search engines like Google and Microsoft’s Bing, have also taken action against the misinformation being spread due to the war.

Famous as a privacy-minded search engine, DuckDuckGo emphasizes keeping the data of its users safe. Founded in the year 2008, it does not track any information and also avoids filter bubbles for personalized search. DuckDuckGo is also considered a safe search engine where users can search without compromising their privacy. Along with these benefits, DuckDuckGo does not idealize users with any political propaganda, still, it is looked upon as an alternative search engine.

As per the growing user base, DuckDuckGo holds around 3% of the U.S search engine market share and is used by around 30 million people and the number will increase in the future. Due to its special privacy feature, the users can also create their own browsing history as the website does not collect data and sell to other websites for their own profits.

The spokesperson of DuckDuckGo also confirmed the same and said,

“The primary utility of a search engine is to provide access to accurate information.” Adding further regarding the disinformation he said, “Disinformation sites that deliberately put out false information to intentionally mislead people directly cut against that utility…We are simply using the fact that these sites are engaging in active disinformation campaigns as a ranking signal that the content they produce is of lower quality, just like there are signals for spammy sites and other lower-quality content.”