MOZOM-analyse

MOZOM analyzes: search engines, deplatforming and right-wing news, made untraceable or suppressed by ranking power?

Google, Europese Commissie, Reuters Institute, AllSides, PNAS en Nature Media 4 juli 2026 om 08:23

Type: Analyse Author: Ron Caroselli Published: 4 juli 2026 om 08:23 Report a correction

AI image of a public space with digital search and news panels where some results are prominently visible and others fade into the background.

Source: Google, Europese Commissie, Reuters Institute, AllSides, PNAS en Nature
MOZOM headline: MOZOM analyzes: search engines, deplatforming and right-wing news, made untraceable or suppressed by ranking power?
Original headline: Research into search engines, platform power and political visibility of news
Author: Ron Caroselli
Date: 4 juli 2026 om 08:23
Subject: MOZOM investigates how search engines, news aggregators, ranking rules and deplatforming determine which news becomes visible and which news practically fades into the background.

Summary of the original report

Google describes Search as a system that uses many signals to search for relevance, quality and reliability. In its own DSA transparency, Google also mentions ranking and recommendation as tools to highlight trustworthy information and limit harmful or misleading practices. That sounds technical and reasonable, but it also means that private platforms determine which sources count as quality. Since November 2025, the European Commission has been investigating whether Google unfairly demotes media publishers in search results under a policy against abuse of site reputation. AllSides claims, based on its own bias ratings, that Google News showed many more left-classified sources on the homepage in 2025 than right-wing sources. Nature nuances the picture: a study on Google Search found that users often choose more biased sources than they see in the search results. PNAS shows precisely why ranking order is politically sensitive: in experiments, biased search results could noticeably shift the preferences of undecided voters. The key is not that it has been proven that Google systematically suppresses right-wing news. The bottom line is that ranking power is great enough to take such concerns seriously.

Own source research

MOZOM has placed six layers next to each other. Layer one: Google documentation confirms that visibility is not neutral, but comes from systems for relevance, quality, reliability, spam detection, and user context. Layer two: the DSA and DMA layers show that European regulators do not see ranking and demotion as a purely internal corporate choice, but as a public question of power. Layer three: Reuters Institute shows news distribution shifting from direct site visits to platforms and AI responses; those who are less visible there lose an audience. Layer four: AllSides provides a concrete bias signal around Google News, but the method remains dependent on US source classification and does not prove intent. Layer five: Nature shows that user choice also plays a major role, making 'the algorithm does everything' too simple. Layer six: PNAS explains why the discussion remains explosive: being at the top changes behavior. MOZOM's own layer is that modern deplatforming is not just removal. It has also become more untraceable.

What is striking in this message

What is striking is that platforms rarely have to say: we are pushing this political camp away. A ranking rule can give the same practical outcome without making any political sense. 'Reliability', 'authoritativeness', 'spam', 'site reputation abuse', 'quality' and 'safety' are all words that sound understandable, but they can also determine which political reality appears at the top. Whoever gets to define those words controls the information input.

Less visible context

Less visible is that citizens often treat search engines as neutral infrastructure, while they are in fact editorial gateways. They don't choose articles like an editor-in-chief does, but their systems do determine ranking, visibility, snippet, news box, AI response and sometimes even whether a source can survive commercially. That hits left, right and center. The question of power is therefore broader than 'is right-wing censored'. The question is: who controls the gatekeeper when visibility itself shapes the news market?

Possible message behind the news

A possible message is that search engines bring order to chaos. The critical counter-reading is that order is never neutral when order determines who is heard.

Neutral conclusion

The neutral conclusion: search engines and news aggregators do not automatically remove right-wing news, but they do determine the visibility of news through ranking, quality rules and distribution mechanisms. The more pointed MOZOM reading is that deplatforming nowadays often happens softly. Not necessarily due to a ban, but due to the loss of findability. That is precisely why the discussion should not get stuck in conspiracy or denial. The democratic question is simpler: how do citizens control the systems that determine which reality comes first?