Occurred: June 2021
Page published: June 2021
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Microsoft came under fire for allegedly stopping users in some countries from viewing China's 'tank man'.
Users of the technology company's Bing search engine 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, and the block coincided with the 32nd anniversary of the protests.Β
The incident prompted accusations of censorship; Microsoft blamed the omission on 'accidental human error'.
Bing Search π
Developer: Microsoft
Country: China
Sector: Politics
Purpose: Rank content/search results
Technology: Search engine algorithm
Issue: Accountability; Accuracy/reliability; Human/civil rights; Transparency
https://www.vice.com/en/article/qj8v9m/bing-censors-tank-man
https://abcnews.go.com/Technology/wireStory/microsoft-tank-man-censorship-due-human-error-78105315
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2021/jun/04/microsoft-bing-tiananmen-tank-man-results
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/05/business/bing-tank-man-microsoft.html
https://www.theverge.com/2021/6/4/22519418/microsoft-bing-china-tank-man-tiananmen-square
https://gizmodo.com/microsoft-blames-human-error-amid-suspicion-it-censored-1847037545
https://edition.cnn.com/2021/06/08/tech/mitt-romney-microsoft-tiananmen-square/index.html