Microsoft Bing Tiananmen Square Tank Man 'censorship'

Occurred: June 1989

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Bing search engine users in the UK, US, Singapore and other countries were unable to view image search results for the query 'tank man'.

The phrase describes the lone protester standing before tanks during China's Tiananmen Square demonstrations in 1989. 

The users tried to find the image on the 32nd anniversary of the protests, prompting accusations of censorship. 

Microsoft blamed the omission on 'accidental human error'.

Operator: Microsoft
Developer: Microsoft
Country: China
Sector: Technology
Purpose: Rank content/search results
Technology: Search engine algorithm
Issue: Accuracy/reliability
Transparency: Governance; Black box

Page info
Type: Incident
Published: June 2021