The searches by Ms. Warren’s office also yielded first-page results of books that claimed Covid-19 vaccines were “making people sick and killing them” and literature that touted ivermectin, a deworming drug normally used for livestock, “as a Covid-19 miracle cure,” which it is not.
“Collectively, this is an astonishing sample of misinformation that appeared in only a few potential searches relating to Covid-19,” the letter states.
A search by The New York Times came up with similar results.
Ms. Warren acknowledged that Amazon had removed “sponsored” search results for pandemic-related terms like the ones that used to pop up for KN95 masks and has made an effort to direct costumers to accurate information by placing a banner at the top of all pandemic-related searches linking to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s website. “But the results of my staff’s review are nevertheless deeply troubling,” the senator wrote.
“As cases of Covid-19 continue to rise, Amazon is feeding misinformation loops through its search and “Best Seller” algorithms, potentially leading countless Americans to risk their health and the health of their neighbors based on misleading and inaccurate information that they discover on Amazon’s website,” she added.
Ms. Warren asked Amazon to review its algorithms within 14 days and provide public reports on both the extent to which Amazon’s algorithms are directing consumers to books and other products containing misinformation and on a plan to change the algorithms.