Breaking: Google Alternative, “Conservative Friendly” DuckDuckGo, Participates In Woke Censorship Of So-Called Misinformation

We should have known better. I should have known better. What was billed as the “secure” alternative to Google’s data-siphoning search engine has turned out to be no better at belaying the leftist barrage of downvoting unacceptable speech. What good is valuing my privacy if you don’t value my free speech or my access to all viewpoints? 

Joining countless other companies at destroying lives and freedom, DuckDuckGo announced via their CEO’s Twitter feed that the company would begin engaging in, effective immediately, the censorship of articles or sites that promote – gasp! – skepticism at the corporate media’s approved narrative. 

Known by the handle of @yeng, CEO Gabriel Weinberg sent out this message:

“Like so many others I am sickened by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the gigantic humanitarian crisis it continues to create. #StandWithUkraine?

At DuckDuckGo, we’ve been rolling out search updates that down-rank sites associated with Russian disinformation.”

Like so many others I am sickened by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the gigantic humanitarian crisis it continues to create. #StandWithUkraine?

At DuckDuckGo, we've been rolling out search updates that down-rank sites associated with Russian disinformation.

— Gabriel Weinberg (@yegg) March 10, 2022

After the tweet was down-voted into oblivion and besieged with endless comments calling Weinberg out for his selling out to corporate interests, he followed up with additional replies. Two of those comments appear below:

“In addition to down-ranking sites associated with disinformation, we also often place news modules and information boxes at the top of DuckDuckGo search results (where they are seen and clicked the most) to highlight quality information for rapidly unfolding topics.”

That was the first one. Here is the second one:

“DuckDuckGo’s mission is to make simple privacy protection accessible to all. Privacy is a human right and transcends politics, which is why about 100 million people around the world use DuckDuckGo. (We don’t have an exact count since we don’t track people.)”

It’s a cowardly act that once more spits in the face of his consumer. It is the search engine equivalent of right-supported Carhartt announcing vaccine mandates to its employees. 

Full disclosure: I do not receive any compensation for this suggestion, but in the face of Weinberg’s middle finger to his base it seems obvious that we all need to abandon the search engine in favor of others. I personally use Brave Browser. It is a secure, private browser that operates in the decentralized world of emerging blockchain technology. Perhaps it too is owned and operated by two-face sellouts, but given that DuckDuckGo hates us, the only option is to try and hope for the best.

Just two months ago, Weinberg was tweeting that his Google-rivaling search engine had accumulated over 100 billion all-time private searches. He deserves to lose immediate market share and future search engine discovery as a result of this craven and, indeed, misinformed outlook on the entire situation unfolding in Eastern Europe.

Shame on him for selling out and being an idiot. Shame on us for believing we had a viable alternative to Google.