Google Apologizes For "Michelle Obama" Results

theodp writes "CNN reports that for most of the past week, when someone did a Google image search for 'Michelle Obama,' one of the first images that came up was a picture of the First Lady altered to resemble a monkey. After being hit with a firestorm of criticism over the episode, Google first banned the site that posted the photo, saying it could spread malware. Then, when the image appeared on another site, Google displayed the photo in its search results, but displayed an apologetic Google ad above it. On Wednesday morning, the racially offensive image appeared to have been removed from any Google Image searches for 'Michelle Obama.' Google officials could not immediately be reached for comment." Update — 15:38 GMT by SS: A reader pointed out that this article from the Guardian says the image was de-listed simply because it was removed from the blog where it was hosted rather than by any "deliberate" action from Google.

Comments

Re:Well, something *has* changed

[thesandtiger]

You're ridiculous.

The administration wouldn't have to lift a finger to get Google to remove this - market pressures would. Someone finds a race-baiting image of the First Lady is a top result on Google and sends word to everyone in their address book about it, and those people spread it, and so on. At some point you'd have tons of people contacting Google to demand that it be remedied, and Google would do it rather than suffer a pretty serious PR black eye.

Why would the Obama administration bother swinging at a pitch in the dirt like this? People have been shown at protests with signs that insult the man's *children* by calling them all kinds of racist names, and he doesn't bother responding to it, but you think that a stupid caricature of his wife is somehow going to get him to say "Hey, I think I'll take an action that, if found out, would completely ruin my credibility and won't have any impact because the image will still be out there. That's a winning move!"

It looks like you're a paranoid kook who doesn't have any clue how the real world actually works. The fact that some other mong modded you "insightful" should be frightening to people who actually have a functioning brain.

Understandable

[anilg]

Come on.. this is the just the Zeitgeist. There are more people searching for the picture in question rather than just her name. That would put the suggestion higher in the list (I'm guessing that's how the autocomplete algorithm works).

Google isn't really to blame.. and them removing this item can be seen as censorship.

Re:Understandable

[Aldenissin]

Google isn't really to blame.. and them removing this item can be seen as censorship.

I agree, while I find comparing a first lady to a monkey, or anyone for that matter beyond tasteless, if we don't have free speech then I am scared that I will not be able to say other things that have to be said. What if I called George Bush a monkey? Oh, so it is because Michelle is Black and a monkey is supposed to stand for a racist image against black people. Words only hold the power that you, give them. Some black (and white) people all of the time say, "What's up my nigga?" I realize it is not exactly the same as nigger, but it is close enough that everyone knows this. They have changed the word. If someone calls you a monkey, a whore, cannibal, or a witch, it is all about how you react to it. For example, if Michelle Obama believes in evolution, then she could say something like "Perhaps I do resemble a monkey, just like us all. I am proud of the results of evolution and where it has put this great nation." (I am a Christian and don't necessarily believe in all of the "mainstream" theory of evolution, but this is an example.) I am not saying this is what she should do, just a possibility of turning it around on her haters. Regardless, this is where she will show her true colors. What she says and how she reacts will demonstrate what she truly believes. This isn't directly tied to the President, but she is his wife.

Here, Google is over reacting and getting political. This disturbs me with the power they are now welding and looking to hold in the future. The image may be hurtful, but it must be allowed. I had high hopes for Google, as they appeared to come close to the best solution in China, and perhaps they did. But we can't get emotional in this thing. That is exactly what the people who put out these images want. We must think logically, and dismiss those that are illogical and try to provoke us.

So, suppose that President Obama or another black president, or any future president for that matter, happens to do some war crimes or worse, on the level done in Guantanamo Bay (See Taxi to the Dark Side )? Don't you think for a second if the precedents are set that they will not try to limit our speech. We can not allow exceptions for something clearly protected by the First Amendment.

Look, no matter how much you like the guy, or his wife you shouldn't play into the hatred of others and become like them. You can be proud of your race sure, but we American's are people, and I want someone that will do everything in his power to protect me for being white, as much as protect another for being black. That is racial equality and required for civil peace. In conclusion, the best thing to do would be for Michelle or the President himself to ask Google to return the images. That would make me even more proud to be an American and have considerably more faith in my President about his confidence of his own actions and merits.

Google vs Bing

[AliasMarlowe]

I just did a Google vs Bing comparison on image search for michelle+obama+monkey.
First comment: the images were displayed really slowly on Bing; many never appeared at all.
Second comment: of the images displayed, Google's had more with a monkey theme of some sort.
Third comment: neither search produced anything I'd refer to as offensive.

Re:Special Treatment for Kenyan in the White House

[HanzoSpam]

And the constitution is entirely about democracy

Really? Show me where the word is mentioned. I'm sure it must be in there somewhere.

oh boy, did they just screw up....

[night_flyer]

We've heard the argument before: "we are just a search engine, we arent responsible for child porn, warez, illegal mp3s or anythign like that that show up in our results"... unless its a picture of Michelle Obama... If you can flush that you have proved you can flush the other things as well. So whats next?

Re:First post

[aplusjimages]

don't just blame it on the guy who posted it, but also Google works on natural search. Blame the millions of people who searched for this picture using those keywords. This image coming up first just shows how racist americans still are. I say Google should have let it be. As disgusting as it is it represents a group of people in this period of history. You can't erase it like the Germans are trying to do with the Nazi history.

And for those morons who are comparing this to George Bush's monkey, you all are idiots. George Bush's monkey was showing he was as dumb as a monkey. Michelle Obama's is just racist. There's a history of racist calling blacks monkeys in the US. And if you think they are the same then you most likely are a racist yourself. Its time for you to come out of the closet and be open about it.

Re:Stupidity is not color-blind.

[1s44c]

Censoring racism will force it underground and thus strengthen it.

Interesting. Can you elaborate further? This seems counter-intuitive to me.

If you ban something you only attract a whole bunch of people who think it's banned because it's cool.

Re:Stupidity is not color-blind.

[DJRumpy]

And yet we've gone from it being publicly acceptable to put blacks in the back of a bus and make them drink from a different water fountain, to an African American president.

They essentially made overt racism illegal, at least in public.

Re:Well, something *has* changed

[Nqdiddles]

As someone who isn't American, thank you for explaining that. I couldn't figure out what people were so worked up over.

I still think it's a steaming pile of horse shit. In bad taste, yes. Something to get excited over? I'm still not seeing it. Many people can be caricatured in various ways due to their looks, and sometimes it's even amusing. I don't see the need to declare a comparison "off limits" because of someone's race. A lot of the comments here seem to suggest it's fine for me to portray a white person as a monkey (even if we agree it's in bad taste), even if they happen to resemble one more than most of us do. But don't dare make that comparison of someone black.

Be willing to call it like it is, even it's a crappy attempt at humour. That seems to more closely embody equality, at least to me. But yes, a lot of it depends on intent, and I wasn't around to hear the racial slurs of the past.

Re:double standard?

[prograde]

Excellent points. What was the search phrase that used to lead to GWB's White House page..."ignorant asshole" or "incompetent moron" or something?