Google Search erases Bangladeshi journalism in favour of Indian media: Report

Google Search prioritises ultranationalist outlets more prominently, thereby fueling a global disinformation campaign amid heightened diplomatic tensions.

According to a report published by Tech Global Institute titled "Whose Stories Count? How Google Search Erases Local Media in Bangladesh", for instance the search engine giant populates its search with content from Indian media over Bangladeshi media – even when the actual issue in question has taken place in Bangladesh.

In doing so, it casts aside local, original journalism on a story rooted in Bangladesh in favour of an avalanche of divisive coverage from neighbouring India, according to a report published by Tech Global Institute. 

Taking the example of the arrest of Chinmoy Krishna Das on sedition charges, the report says the news of his arrest took centre stage in neighbouring India, sparking a rallying cry among Hindu ultranationalists, culminating in a mob storming a Bangladeshi consulate in retaliation.

Fact-checkers traced much of the frenzy to India's vast Hindu nationalist social media networks, while critics say Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's governing party stoked the flames for its own political ends, turning a neighbouring country's tragedy into a tool for domestic leverage, says the report. 

Yet, anyone Googling to learn these multi-layered nuances — original reporting by people on the ground, along with local context — would likely come away disappointed. The top results come almost exclusively from Indian outlets, most of which lack local correspondents and rely instead on secondary or social media sources. 

"Bangladeshi news outlets, better positioned to provide firsthand coverage and local context, are conspicuously absent," reads the report. 

Tech Global Institute set out to determine the reason behind Google's search results appearing so skewed, only to find out that regardless of where the users are — Bangladesh, Australia, the EU, the UK, or the US — Indian news outlets overwhelmingly dominate Google results for keywords tied to the Chinmoy story.

"Even within Bangladesh itself, Indian sources like Times of India, The Hindu, and Hindustan Times regularly grabbed top positions in the knowledge panel, top stories and video carousels, and the news tab [separate from Google News, the product], while credible Bangladeshi outlets — The Daily Star, Prothom Alo, or The Business Standard, for instance — were buried far down the list. Searching for "চিন্ময় কৃষ্ণ দাস" [the Bangla spelling] yielded a slightly better balance, yet Indian media still led in many parts of the world," says the Tech Global Institute report.

It says Indian sites claimed up to 90% of top placements from Australia to the US, leaving reputable Bangladeshi coverage languishing on the thirteenth or fourteenth page — places few users ever scroll to. 

Lesser-known Indian publications, like PGurus or DD News, comfortably outranked major Bangladeshi national dailies.

"What is even more striking is that Google is perfectly capable of highlighting local coverage when it chooses. For example, on 16 December 2024, we searched for 'madison school shooting' from both a mobile device and a desktop at different times and in different locations both within the US and outside. In all instances, local Madison-area outlets featured prominently, sometimes even outranking far more prominent national media. This shows that Google can identify a user's region to a more granular level and prioritise local journalism," reads the article. 

Seeking the reason behind Google's capability failure when it comes to Bangladesh, Tech Global Institute found out how Google accounts for market size, language dominance, and SEO-driven algorithms in its search ranking. 

"India's enormous publishing industry churns out a high volume of English-language news, much of it optimised for search engines. These outlets tend to have higher 'domain authority,' meaning Google's algorithm treats them as more established and trustworthy," it says. 

By contrast, Bangladeshi publishers — often targeting Bangla-speaking audiences — can't match India's sheer volume or global SEO sophistication. As a result, local Bangladeshi reports on major events in their own country get sidelined, overshadowed by Indian perspectives and, at times, clickbait storylines bordering on disinformation.

Google's public document says it ranks "hundreds of billions of web pages" according to relevance, freshness, authoritativeness and quality, factoring in PageRank scores, language cues, and location data. 

"But as we see, the system favours high-engagement content—often sensational pieces that pull in more clicks and ad revenue. For smaller markets like Bangladesh, with fewer resources for extensive SEO campaigns, this means their stories and the voice of their communities are drowned out," says the report. 

But the cost is more than unfair search engine results. 

It distorts the global narrative about events on the ground and heightens the risk of communal or political tensions in a region where they already run high, it observes. 

"Biased search results ripple far beyond everyday web browsing. Governments, multilateral agencies, corporate investors, and NGOs looking into regional stability often check top search hits as a litmus test. If they find mostly alarmist or one-sided reports—be it about alleged 'genocide' or escalating sectarian strife — without balanced, locally sourced coverage, their decisions can rest on a skewed understanding."

The report says this warps public opinion undermines diplomatic efforts, and sidelines necessary ground reporting on challenges faced by minority communities during the country's political transition.

"Such distortion is particularly worrying in South Asia, where cross-border rivalries flare easily. National media often amplifies or downplays stories for domestic political reasons."

When Google lifts outlets from a dominant neighbouring country to the top, voices from smaller countries such as Sri Lanka, Nepal, or Bangladesh are cast out, fuelling resentment and frustration, it further says.