Keller @ Large: Google's Turn To Be Exposed
BOSTON (CBS) - What was that commandment in the Bible about not worshipping false idols: "Thou shalt have no other gods before me"?
That is worth remembering in this era where tech celebrities have become something like royalty in some quarters.
Mark Zuckerberg and other top executives at Facebook are treated like mega-celebrities; ditto the gang at Google, owners of YouTube.
But it turns out these idols have feet of clay.
Zuckerberg recently helped destroy the public discourse by allowing Facebook to be used as a vehicle for propaganda and fake news.
Now it's Google's turn to be exposed as irresponsible exploiters of technology they can't really control.
The Wall Street Journal reported that "a week after Google apologized for running customers' advertisements alongside objectionable videos, triggering a change in policy, its YouTube site is still rife with examples that are angering big advertisers and causing some to cut spending."
The videos in question are racist and anti-Semitic garbage. Google told the Journal they had taken steps to improve their screening, but whatever they actually did didn't work.
Translation – they didn't care enough to sink the money and time necessary into being responsible.
Just like Zuckerberg, who initially denied Facebook's open-door policy toward lies was damaging our politics.
False idols, indeed.
Listen to Jon's commentary: