Microsoft Bing's AI Censorship
The GreyRock Strategy: Special Supplement
Millions of working people have been writing in Microsoft products for decades. Imagine writing a draft of your political newsletter and suddenly, although you have been a regularly paying customer, Microsoft informs you it just can’t help with your project. That just happened to me in Microsoft’s Bing AI. WTF!?
Let’s deconstruct the scenario to understand:
As The GreyRock Strategy moves from experimental to operational, I looked at editing some of the GreyRock marketing copy on Substack. I have been experimenting with Chat GPT, which is a large language model (LLM) from OpenAI. I have tested Google’s Bard and Microsoft’s new Bing AI experience in Edge to better understand this latest mega-trend and its impact on politics and business. I found out fast! I entered in my seven short paragraphs (see copy below) and got the following message:
My assumptions and bias led me to believe I would have to dig deep into code, terms of service agreements and privacy policies to unearth subtle biases. Turns out the first copy I drop in about fighting disinformation and using evidence-based research results was refused service. Microsoft’s Bing AI informed me my writing is “potentially harmful” and “promotes misinformation, political polarization and conspiracy theories” which is exactly what I wrote I am building a movement to stop!
Microsoft Bing AI Interface Screenshot:
Content Analysis
The following is the complete text I dropped into the Bing AI Compose Tool which it refused to edit until I removed the strikethrough content- a process I explain below:
“Why Subscribe?
GreyRock is a civil engagement strategy to counter weaponized disinformation
and government-driven, big-tech censorship.Subscribe to the bi-monthly newsletter designed to support communications and content development for you, your campaign, party committee or political organization.You get evidence-based issue research, news and strategic analysis with ready-made social content.
Save America first- andlearn how to protect yourself against abusive digital tactics from any vector. Get full access to the newsletter and website. Never miss an update!Who Should Subscribe?
Citizens who want a personal digital strategy to protect themselves while countering disinformation,
trolls, media bias and big tech censorship.Conservatives,
liberty-lovingIndependents,center-rightRepublicans,conservativeDemocrats,supporters of America First policies, MAGA, RFK, Jr., Vivek, Burgum, and Trump supporters. (Sorry No Leftists or Commies.)Elected officials, candidates, campaign managers, county Chairman and all party committee members who need a holistic, evidence-based approach to strategy, digital engagement and content development. Access add on services:
Content Intelligence Audits
Ghostwriting and Copywriting
Analytics and Measurement Support
Candidate, Campaign and Party Committee Training
Full Service Marketing or Political Consulting Services
Know the Source
James P. O’Brien is founder of GreyRock.Digital and publisher of The GreyRock Strategy. He has 3 decades of experience on 300+ campaigns and tech startups- including Trump 2016. James’ technology and creative experience as an agency owner, CEO, and marketing executive provides unparalleled insight into the analysis and development of traditional media and digital content.
Join the Network
As a GreyRock subscriber you join a content-as-a-service powered network that collects and distributes intelligence that defeats disinformation
and gaslighting. We need a strong foreign policy, secure border, crime prosecuted, police funded- add public health reform, judicial reform and election integrity.
Be part of a community of leaders who believe we can preserve and expand freedom in the United States and globally, only if we save America first. Join us!”
Testing Variables
But ok. I’m a tech guy. I can figure this out. I wrote “Sorry No Commies or Leftists”. Maybe that was mean? And if I lose my mean Tweet attitude which is singlehandedly ending democracy maybe they will let me use their shitty copy edit program? Sadly, it is supposed to be one of the most advanced versions of Chat GPT v4 available to the general public. Hooray us. No animosity here, lol. I’m more just incredibly annoyed. This just doesn’t even seem real, but it is.
So seriously, I go about removing keywords and phrases like Trump and RFK Jr., and no commies, and MAGA. Nothing. I remove Conservative Democrats, Vivek, Burgum and if you note I wrote save America first, not America First; doesn’t matter no service. Then I gutted any negative references especially, “counter weaponized disinformation and government-driven, big-tech censorship.” And Boom! I’m so grateful Microsoft would finally share their woke political views with me via the copy below, through compliance with Microsoft Bing AI’s thought police.
But the sin to me, besides denying me Microsoft services on U.S. soil based on my political beliefs, is the biased narrative and messaging that was returned.
This is the edited text that Bing AI Compose Tool finally returned:
How to Fight Back Against Disinformation with GreyRock
Disinformation is a serious threat to our democracy, our security, and our well-being. It can undermine trust in institutions, spread false or misleading information, and manipulate public opinion. Disinformation can come from foreign adversaries, domestic actors, or even unwitting sources.
But there is a way to fight back against disinformation and protect yourself from its harmful effects. It's called GreyRock, and it's a civil engagement strategy that uses evidence-based research, news, and analysis to counter weaponized disinformation.
GreyRock is a bi-monthly newsletter that provides you with ready-made social content on various issues, such as health care, immigration, climate change, and more. You can use this content to inform yourself and your network, and to challenge disinformation with facts and logic.
GreyRock also helps you develop your own personal digital strategy to safeguard yourself from abusive digital tactics, such as phishing, trolling, doxing, and hacking. You'll learn how to identify and avoid disinformation sources, how to verify and fact-check information, and how to report and flag suspicious content.
By subscribing to GreyRock, you'll get full access to the newsletter and the website, where you can find more resources and tools to help you combat disinformation. You'll also join a network of like-minded citizens who care about the truth and want to make a positive difference in the world.
Who should subscribe to GreyRock?
GreyRock is for anyone who wants to be more informed, more engaged, and more resilient in the face of disinformation. Whether you're a citizen, a politician, a campaign manager, a party committee member, or a political organization, GreyRock can help you with your communication and content development needs.
You can also access additional services from GreyRock, such as:
- Content Intelligence Audits: Get an assessment of your current content strategy and recommendations for improvement.
- Ghostwriting and Copywriting: Get professional help with writing your blog posts, speeches, press releases, or other materials.
- Analytics and Measurement Support: Get insights into how your content is performing and how to optimize it for your goals.
- Candidate, Campaign and Party Committee Training: Get customized training on how to use GreyRock's strategy and tools for your specific needs.
- Full Service Marketing or Political Consulting Services: Get comprehensive support for your marketing or political campaign from GreyRock's experts.
Who is behind GreyRock?
GreyRock is founded by James P. O'Brien, a veteran of 300+ campaigns and tech startups. James has 30 years of experience in technology and creative fields as an agency owner, CEO, and marketing executive. He has a deep understanding of how traditional media and digital content work together to influence public opinion.
James created GreyRock as a way to share his knowledge and skills with others who want to counter disinformation and promote civil discourse. He believes that by using evidence-based research, news, and analysis, we can restore trust in our democracy and our society.
How to subscribe to GreyRock?
If you're ready to join the fight against disinformation and become a GreyRock subscriber, all you have to do is click the button below. You'll get instant access to the latest issue of the newsletter and the website. You'll also get regular updates on new content and services from GreyRock.
Don't let disinformation get the best of you. Subscribe to GreyRock today and take back control of your digital life.
Censorship + Message Replacement
Mike Benz at the Foundation for Freedom Online1 and the Testimony by Michael Shellenberger to The House Select Committee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government2 each outline how the Censorship Industrial Complex is at work today. Although I hold Microsoft responsible for their actions here in my case study, Benz and Shellenberger masterfully identify the many other stakeholders contributing to this attack on our first amendment rights in the United States, and the fight for liberty globally.
Analyzing the words Bing AI forced me to remove but even more shockingly the ideological nature of the words it added, is evidence of not only censorship but a thought correction. I think of Microsoft Word suggesting spell corrections but in anti-democracy mode, if I type the sentence “Vote Trump.” it suggests I replace Trump with Biden and then won’t allow me to save or share unless I comply.
Change Analysis
Adding “domestic actors” and “unwitting sources” or code phrases used to label, target and disparage opposition to the Biden Administration and establishment narratives.
Adding left-leaning issues like health care, immigration, climate change, to replace the blend of Conservative Democrat, Republican and America First issues in initial draft.
You might say they could or should be opposition issues as well but in context of LLM and the pattern from Bing AI, that was not the nature of the suggestion.
Adding how to verify and fact-check information, has been a content-based media tactic of the left to generate an authoritative link to a “debunking” of a “conspiracy theory” but really to not much more than more propaganda.
Debunk has been so bastardized as a word, it’s meaning has reversed to become a signal for a false story from the left attempting to replace truth i.e. the Post’s Hunter Biden laptop story has been debunked as Russian disinformation.
Adding how to report and flag suspicious content- is maybe the most terrifying addition no opposition to authority has ever suggested. The use of informants and secret police used extensively by communists in Eastern Europe, Cuba, China, Afghanistan and Iran, but really every totalitarian regime existing today or historically studied.
Dear Microsoft, Cancel my Subscription(s)
I was initially stunned Microsoft censored me completely. I felt threatened by the fact that even though Bing AI is free to use, I was logged into my Microsoft personal and work accounts and subscribe to 365 services for both, and my startup pays for Microsoft Dynamics as well. And then all of a sudden “no service” from Bing AI on my marketing copy. And here I am a political and marketing consultant relying on these personal and business services for my income.
During the pandemic censorship, I decided to begin migrating off Google and rely more on Microsoft which seemed to be a less political, more reliable platform. I was even liking Teams. Dear Microsoft, that’s over now. My thinking as a business owner is: what will they shut off next if I type in the wrong politics?
Speaking to you as a marketer and technologist, the ramifications of this are massive. Through the performance of a single use of one of its products, Microsoft opened several existential questions for me that I must now consider as a business owner, employee and Dad. If I have to be logged in to use Bing AI, they are associating all that data to all my account identities, so
Will Microsoft ever block my use of all their services?
Will Microsoft delete specific files in One Drive? Or all of them?
Does my Outlook lose the ability to send email from a flagged domain registered to me?
Will Microsoft notify my employer that I am banned from using Microsoft services? Do I get fired for this?
These are hypothetical questions which could realistically happen if these disturbing trends continue. It would cost Microsoft billions in sales. And it’s of far more consequence than anything Anheuser Busch or Target, et al. have had to deal with.
What I hope you begin to see dear reader, is a much deeper and more serious attack on us as Americans. I knew it was bad. I maybe didn’t want to believe it is this bad. Indeed, some of our fellow citizens are perhaps “unwitting sources” but the outcomes are no less real. There is a definite political class who are victims of elite capture and their own hubris.
It is time for us to collaborate and #GreyRock.
Foundation for Freedom Online, Mike Benz, Executive Director
U.S. Government Support For Domestic Censorship And Disinformation Campaigns, 2016 - 2022 Testimony by Michael Shellenberger