Today, Big Brother Watch has joined with Article 19 to ask Google if the company has undertaken any activities regarding search results for the ‘Great Barrington Declaration’.
Concerns have been raised by journalists and MPs that Google search results recently changed in relation to the Declaration, which was authored by epidemiologists advocating policy change in the pandemic management.
The Declaration no longer returns as the top search result and is harder to find via Google. However, it remains the top search result on competitor search engines.
We have written to Google to ask questions and encourage transparency. It is only through a free forum of ideas that citizens understand, contextualise, critique and trust information. Freedom of expression and access to information is vital at all times — especially during a pandemic.
You can read our letter here.