The West is dying because it thinks Google rank can win wars

"Whitehall (UK) officials will train pro-West Islamic groups to manipulate

• their Google search ranking

• in an attempt to drown out extremist voices online, The Register has learned.

The policy is being developed despite recent warnings from a group of international experts on radicalisation that such strategies are

• likely to be "largely ineffectual".

The Office of Security and Counter-Terrorism (OSCT), a 200-strong Home Office unit created 18 months ago, has said in meetings it wants to

• "flood the internet" with "positive" interpretations of Islam.
  

It plans to train government-approved groups in search engine optimisation techniques, which it's hoped will boost their profile online and battle radicalisation....

A Home Office spokesman confirmed

• search engine optimisation training
  

is part of the government's anti-radicalisation strategy. "In order to support mainstream voices, we work with local partners to help develop their communication, representational and leadership skills," he said.

• "This support could include media training, which can help make their voices heard more widely, and support the development of skills which allow communities to be more effective in debate."...

In March, a report produced by the International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation (ICSR) said young Muslims were much more

• likely to be directed to extremist material online by web forums and offline associates
  
• than by Google or other search engines.

• "Tweaking the results for supposedly extremist terms would be largely ineffectual,
  

not least because it is unlikely that any but the most callow wannabe terrorist would use a mainstream search engine to find banned material," the authors wrote. ICSR is a collaboration between British, American, Israeli and Jordanian universities."...via Lucianne.com