When Glenn Beck googles ‘Google’ he doesn’t like the results
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Fox News commentator Glenn Beck has put Google Inc. in his rhetorical cross hairs.
The search giant is, of course, the employer of Wael Ghonim, the marketing executive who emerged as a figurehead of the recent political uprising in Egypt, at one point saying he was ‘ready to die’ for the cause of freedom. Google has offered Ghonim its support. But support was not as immediately forthcoming from Beck.
‘I’m really not sure I want my search engine involved in government overthrows,’ he said on his show on Wednesday. ‘I’m not afraid that Google is reading my e-mail or tapping your phone lines or stealing Grandma’s recipes -- that kind of paranoia is reserved for the left during the Bush administration with Microsoft.’
‘What I’m starting to look at is Google as a whole -- you know they said ‘Don’t be evil?’ Well what does that mean exactly? What are their motivations? Who are they working with? What are they doing on an everyday basis? Where do they give all of their money?
‘I’m not leading any boycott,’ Beck continued. ‘I hate boycotts: you do with your time, your money, and your information what you want. For me personally, I’m not feeling real comfortable about the current direction of Google, the more I find out.’
Among Beck’s criticisms is that Google is working closely with several levels of government, including the NSA, law enforcement, and the National Geospatial Intelligence agency. Beck also pointed to ties between Google and what he called liberal entities, including media watchdog Free Press, George Soros’ Open Society Foundation and others.
Google did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
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-- David Sarno