Monday, November 11, 2024

How China’s Microsoft’s Bing is censoring the ‘genocide’ of Uyghurs

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Microsoft, the world’s most valuable company, is “erasing” the suffering of China’s persecuted Uyghur minority from internet searches, The Post has learned.

Results from the tech giant’s Bing search engine show how Chinese users see different results than American users.

And in the most egregious example, when you type in the term “Uyghur” in China, Bing’s image search results show cheerful Uyghurs smiling and dancing; It is part of a large-scale propaganda effort to convince the world that they are living an idyllic life under their rule.

Beijing’s Communist Party government has waged a scorched-earth campaign against the Uyghurs, a predominantly Muslim ethnic minority that officially numbers 12 million people in China’s far western Xinjiang region, including 1 million people. The above were imprisoned in concentration camps. Since 2017, it has been officially declared a “genocide” by the State Department.

The United Nations has accused China of “serious human rights violations,” but the Chinese government denies human rights abuses and even suggests that the allegations are due to “anti-China voices seeking to smear China.” There is.

These are the contrasting results of a Bing search for “Uyghurs” (also spelled Uighur) in the United States and China. Microsoft offers its search engine in China, where the Communist government is accused of “genocide” against ethnic minorities.
Detailed results for asking for images of “Uyghurs” on Bing in the US show references to “suffering,” “oppression” and “mass detention.” This is a term that China opposes. Images also show protesters wearing blue masks, some with hands over their mouths in the colors of communist China. This is a reference to widespread Uyghur rights protests using the Uyghur sky blue flag.
These are the results of a search for “Uyghurs” in Chinese on Microsoft Bing, performed using a Chinese VPN to mimic what users in China would see. The browser used the Google Translate extension to convert the resulting text to English. The images show Uighurs dancing, singing and playing music in their national costumes. Human rights groups say the images are part of a communist attempt to oppress minorities by portraying them as living happily under Beijing’s rule. China’s findings do not include protests against human rights abuses or protesters wearing blue masks.

Microsoft was founded by Bill Gates, held a one-on-one meeting with Chinese leader Xi Jinping last June, and is led by Satya Nadra, according to search results seen by the Post. It appears that they are trying to support the communist camp by offering different results on Bing. From a US search engine to a Chinese search engine.

Search results for “Uyghurs” in the United States include links to news articles that mention “oppression” and “suffering,” as well as images of Uyghurs wearing sky-blue masks in protest against the Chinese government. Is displayed.

However, when using a Chinese VPN to reflect results within China, the results show images of Uyghur people singing and dancing.

Louisa Coyne-Grave, director of global advocacy at the Uyghur Human Rights Project, told the Post that portraying Uyghur life as fun and ignoring evidence of protests and human rights abuses is a systematic effort by the Chinese government. He said it was part of the campaign.

More than 1 million Uyghurs have been held in concentration camps since 2017. The State Department has condemned the act as “genocide,” but China denies it commits human rights abuses. Human Rights Watch
Chinese leader Xi Jinping visited the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region, home to the Uyghur minority, in July 2022, but the State Department says his regime is committing “genocide” against the Muslim majority. . AP

“Uyghur culture is being commodified because Uyghur poets and musicians are serving 10, 20 years in concentration camps,” Greve said.

“The Chinese Communist Party’s strategy to avoid atrocities has been to first cover up, then deny, and then justify the atrocities as ‘re-education.’ Microsoft is currently assisting with the next steps. ”

A Microsoft spokesperson said, “Search results may vary based on a variety of factors, including the language used. When generating search results, content is returned in the original language used in the search query.

“Performing the same search in different languages ​​may show different results.”

Microsoft has faced some backlash over its involvement with China. The company came under fire in 2021 after reports surfaced that its Bing search engine failed to display images of Tiananmen Square and did not automatically populate search results for individuals disliked by the Chinese Communist Party.

Microsoft President Brad Smith said he expects Microsoft to “actively participate in the digital transformation of China’s economy.” The company employs more than 10,000 researchers and developers in China and also has a retail division. Future releases via Getty Images

However, the company has not been questioned by Congress about its activities in China. Unlike Google in China, the company provides a search engine and controls how users view the internet.

But some lawmakers have suggested that Microsoft’s continued efforts to appease China could change the kid-glove treatment the company has been receiving, the people said. Told.

Although no formal investigation has been conducted, some D.C. lawmakers have suggested that Microsoft could limit the multibillion-dollar contracts it receives from the U.S. government.

A spokesperson for the House Judiciary Committee said, “It may be time for the U.S. government to reconsider awarding so much business to an organization that does the bidding of a major rival.”

Mike Gallagher, the Republican chairman of the House Select Committee on Chinese Strategic Competition, told the Post that “American companies must not facilitate the censorship of the Chinese Communist Party and instead end the oppression of the Chinese people.” We should use our technology and influence to do so.”

“Today, the Chinese Communist Party… has figured out how to use the party’s complete control over the internet to force foreign companies to censor themselves in accordance with their authoritarian demands.”

Rep. Mike Gallagher (R-Wis.), chairman of the House Committee on Competition with China, warned that “American companies should not facilitate Chinese Communist Party censorship” after looking at Bing search results. did. Getty Images

“American companies should not be doing the Chinese Communist Party’s dirty work or promoting propaganda,” Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) told the Post. “These reports that Microsoft is supporting America’s adversaries are deeply disturbing.”

Microsoft, which overtook Apple in January to become the world’s most valuable company, did not respond to requests for comment.

The $3 trillion company’s appeasement of the Chinese Communist Party is especially ironic given how outspoken it has been on domestic issues, the people added.

“Microsoft is quick to take the moral high ground while avoiding scrutiny, such as when expressing positions on voting rights,” said one technology industry official.

“This is a more algorithmic form of censorship than we’ve seen before, but ultimately the goal is the same: appease the Chinese government.”





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