ICE is allegedly manipulating Google search results for ‘mass deportations’

U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is allegedly altering publication dates on previous press releases with a purpose to skew Google outcomes for mass deportations, in accordance with an investigation by the Guardian.

First documented by an immigration lawyer who spoke to the publication beneath anonymity, first web page Google outcomes for state particular deportation searches have been surfacing outdated press releases from the immigration company, exacerbating an setting of worry as federal officers threaten ICE incursions in areas like colleges and workplaces. Later confirmed by the Guardian, 1000’s of ICE press releases describing deportation operations throughout the 50 states have been manipulated with new publication timestamps, with the earliest going way back to 2008.

Whereas most of them are labeled as “archived content material” on the ICE web site itself, all the press releases now bear the date of Jan. 24, 2025, implying, on first look, a wider immigration sweep touted by the Trump administration in its first 100 days.

“When individuals do these searches on Google, they’ll discover a vary of sources and knowledge, together with latest information articles” a Googles spokesperson informed the Guardian when requested in regards to the obvious web optimization workaround. The corporate added that the search engine’s outcomes “replicate the final time a web page was up to date” and that its “techniques will not be designed to spice up a web page’s rating just because they replace their timestamp.”

Comparable search outcomes additionally appeared on Bing, in accordance with a tech skilled who evaluated the declare. “These are previous articles that at the moment are showing on the high of the Google and Bing search outcomes as latest headlines, the place no different authorities company is doing this. As somebody in tech, I’d interpret that as an intentional play to get extra clicks, primarily on these deceptive headlines,” the skilled informed the Guardian.

President Donald Trump has pledged to crack down on immigration in what he hopes would be the “largest domestic deportation operation in the nation’s history,” together with relocating migrant detainees to controversial military detention camp Guantanamo Bay.

Huge Tech, in the meantime, has been bowing to a lot of Trump’s calls for, together with the elimination of content material and insurance policies associated to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. Trump’s new righthand man and chief of DOGE, Elon Musk, has forcibly taken over a number of authorities databases, laid off workers, and shut down whole companies within the final week.