When it comes to sensitive political topics, Microsoft's search engine allegedly delivers different results for English searches than those in Chinese. February 11, 2014 7:13 PM PST A search for the Dalai Lama on Bing's Chinese language search engine in the US. (Credit: Screenshot by Dara Kerr/CNET) It's no secret that many search engines abide by China's rules and censor Web results for users living in Mainland China. But, typically, results in other countries don't have the same filters. Bing, however, is reportedly censoring results for Chinese speakers in the US, according to a report by the Guardian. The Guardian writes that sensitive political topics -- like the Dalai Lama, Falun Gong, and Tiananmen Square protests -- are showing up on the Chinese-language Bing in the US with filters. When searching the same topics on the English-language Bing, users get far more results. At the time of this writing, Bing in Chinese in the US appears to be getting similar results to Bing in English. It's unclear if the alleged censorship was a glitch in the system or if Microsoft has now removed any filters in the US. CNET contacted Microsoft for comment and we'll update the story when we get more information. Apparently, earlier in the day, when users typed in "Dalai Lama" they would primarily get links from China's state-owned broadcaster CCTV and China's highly censored Wikipedia-like site Baidu Baike. In English, users get links to the Dalai Lama's Web site, Wikipedia entries, and much more. Related stories Turkey approves legislation to block Internet sites Amid censorship, China requires real-name use for video uploads Vietnam: Criticize government on social media and go to jail Schmidt: Censorship could vanish within a decade 'Sex Criminals' still under review at Apple As of this writing, the Chinese-language Bing in the US is showing links to the Dalai Lama's Web site, Wikipedia, as well as CCTV and Baidu Baike. China is known for censoring much of the Internet for its citizens. Top social networking sites, like Facebook, Twitter, and Google+, are banned in the country and many other Web sites and information is blocked. In the past, Google has had extended battles with the Chinese government over it's strict censorship of search results. Microsoft has been under fire before for allegedly censoring its content for Chinese users. In 2006, the company admitted to removing the blog of an outspoken Chinese journalist from its MSN Spaces site; and just last year it was alleged that the China-only version of Skype, which Microsoft owns, contained a list of more than 1,100 words used by the Chinese government to censor and monitor users.
When it comes to sensitive political topics, Microsoft's search engine allegedly delivers different results for English searches than those in Chinese.
A search for the Dalai Lama on Bing's Chinese language search engine in the US.
(Credit: Screenshot by Dara Kerr/CNET)
It's no secret that many search engines abide by China's rules and censor Web results for users living in Mainland China. But, typically, results in other countries don't have the same filters.
Bing, however, is reportedly censoring results for Chinese speakers in the US, according to a report by the Guardian. The Guardian writes that sensitive political topics -- like the Dalai Lama, Falun Gong, and Tiananmen Square protests -- are showing up on the Chinese-language Bing in the US with filters. When searching the same topics on the English-language Bing, users get far more results.
At the time of this writing, Bing in Chinese in the US appears to be getting similar results to Bing in English. It's unclear if the alleged censorship was a glitch in the system or if Microsoft has now removed any filters in the US. CNET contacted Microsoft for comment and we'll update the story when we get more information.
Apparently, earlier in the day, when users typed in "Dalai Lama" they would primarily get links from China's state-owned broadcaster CCTV and China's highly censored Wikipedia-like site Baidu Baike. In English, users get links to the Dalai Lama's Web site, Wikipedia entries, and much more.
Related stories
- Turkey approves legislation to block Internet sites
- Amid censorship, China requires real-name use for video uploads
- Vietnam: Criticize government on social media and go to jail
- Schmidt: Censorship could vanish within a decade
- 'Sex Criminals' still under review at Apple
As of this writing, the Chinese-language Bing in the US is showing links to the Dalai Lama's Web site, Wikipedia, as well as CCTV and Baidu Baike.
China is known for censoring much of the Internet for its citizens. Top social networking sites, like Facebook, Twitter, and Google+, are banned in the country and many other Web sites and information is blocked. In the past, Google has had extended battles with the Chinese government over it's strict censorship of search results.
Microsoft has been under fire before for allegedly censoring its content for Chinese users. In 2006, the company admitted to removing the blog of an outspoken Chinese journalist from its MSN Spaces site; and just last year it was alleged that the China-only version of Skype, which Microsoft owns, contained a list of more than 1,100 words used by the Chinese government to censor and monitor users.
