Report: Anonymous Rape Victims Exposed by Google Search Bug

The names of rape victims, who are entitled to anonymity under British law, were reportedly exposed through a bug on Google Search.

According to a report from Fox News, “When users search online for details about prominent attackers, the search giant’s autocomplete feature populates with the names of their victims.”

Two rape victims, a victim of sexual abuse, and a victim of a violent crime have currently been affected by the bug, prompting Maria Miller MP to issue a warning to Google.

“Google has to operate within the law of the U.K.,” Miller declared. “If that means they have to change how their search engine operates, then so be it.”

Following complaints, Google claimed to have fixed the bug.

“We don’t allow these kinds of autocomplete predictions or related searches that violate laws or our own policies and we have removed the examples we’ve been made aware of in this case,” Google claimed. “We recently expanded our removals policy to cover predictions which disparage victims of violence and atrocities, and we encourage people to send us feedback about any sensitive or bad prediction.”

Google’s video platform, YouTube, was criticized last year for recommending “how to have s*x with your kids” in its search suggestions.

In February, Google censored all shopping search results featuring the word “gun,” including water guns, toy guns, and “Guns and Roses.”