Group of users known as 'Digg Patriots' said to have been systematically downgrading 'liberal' stories on link-sharing site

This article is more than 10 years old

This article is more than 10 years old

The popular link-sharing website Digg is investigating claims that a group of the site's "influential conservative" members are systematically downgrading thousands of stories deemed to be "liberal".

Online magazine AlterNet claimed to have uncovered a group of Digg members – dubbed "Digg Patriots" – who have "censored hundreds of users, dozens of websites, and thousands of stories" from the site. Alternet alleged that the Digg Patriots, thought to number nearly 100 members, are "able to bury over 90% of articles by certain users and websites submitted within 1-3 hours".

Kevin Rose, founder of Digg, said via Twitter: "We're looking into this."

The six-year-old social bookmarking website ranks submitted web content by the number of times they are ranked up or down. Popular items, those receiving the most "Diggs" and least attempts to "Bury", are voted onto the Digg homepage, and can generate significant amounts of traffic for external websites. Digg had 7.6 million unique visitors in June this year, according to figures from analytics firm Compete.

AlterNet claimed the group of Digg Patriots, whose political affiliations are described as "conservative", work to "censor" the prominence of articles "even slightly critical of the GOP/Tea Party/FoxNews/corporations".

A posting said by AlterNet to be by the alleged founder of the Digg Patriots, "phoenixtx", reads:

"The more liberal stories that were buried the better chance conservative stories have to get to the front page. I'll continue to bury their submissions until they change their ways and become conservatives."

An AlterNet investigation alleged that the Digg Patriots discussed censorship strategies at a Yahoo group which has since been removed. A posting said to be by one of the group's senior strategists, said:

"To all of our new group members: We are really happy you have joined us at DiggPatriots! Please remember this is a group that we are trying to keep below the radar. Please do not disclose this group's existence to anyone outside the group on Digg or elsewhere. The longer we can keep this group on the down low, the better. I know you probably already knew that, but I wanted to make sure we are all on the same page as far as the keeping this group from being exposed to the public."

AlterNet also claimed "dozens of duplicate or previously banned" Digg users have set up alternate accounts.

Digg, currently undergoing a transition to a new website, may be free from the coercion of groups of users when it launches its next version, a preliminary analysis by AlterNet is said to have shown.