Google apologizes after push notification includes racial slur in BAFTA awards coverage

Google Push Notification Sparks Outrage During Black History Month

Google found itself at the center of a major controversy after distributing a push notification that included the N-word, a racial slur that appeared in a news alert linking to coverage of the BAFTA Film Awards 1

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. The offensive push notification was first spotted by Instagram influencer Danny Price, who shared a screenshot with his followers and noted, "what an interesting Black History Month this has turned out to be" 2

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. The alert directed users to a Hollywood Reporter story about a Tourette syndrome incident at the recent awards ceremony, but the notification text itself contained the deeply offensive term.

Google Apologies and Claims System Error, Not AI

Google apologizes for the incident and moved quickly to address the situation, stating "We're very sorry for this mistake. We've removed the offensive notification and are working to prevent this from happening again" 2

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. While initial reports suggested the alert was AI-generated, Google clarified that its systems "recognized a euphemism for an offensive term on several web pages, and accidentally applied the offensive term to the notification text" 2

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. The company emphasized this was a system error where safety filters failed to trigger properly, insisting no AI was involved in the blunder.

The BAFTA Incident That Sparked the Coverage

The notification referenced an incident at the BAFTA Film Awards where audience member John Davidson, who has Tourette syndrome, involuntarily shouted the N-word when Michael B. Jordan and Delroy Lindo took the stage to present an award 1

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. Davidson, a Tourette syndrome activist, expressed being "deeply mortified if anyone considers my involuntary tics to be intention or to carry any meaning" 1

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. The incident has sparked discussions about the realities of living with vocal tics, but Google's notification error added another layer of controversy to an already sensitive situation.

Pitfalls of Using AI Systems in News Distribution

Regardless of whether AI was directly involved in this specific case, the incident underscores broader concerns about the pitfalls of using AI systems and automated tools in journalism. AI errors in news alerts have become increasingly common across major tech platforms. Apple faced criticism when its news summarization feature made multiple false claims, including wrongly telling readers that Luigi Mangione, the man accused of killing UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, had shot himself 1

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. The BBC filed a formal complaint against Apple after the tool repeatedly misrepresented its stories 2

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Growing Pattern of AI in Journalism Failures

Google itself has struggled with AI-generated content quality. Last month, its Google Discover feed was caught displaying sensationalized AI-generated headlines that replaced publications' original headlines 2

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. The Washington Post deployed an AI-generated feature for creating personalized podcasts that immediately invented and misattributed quotes 2

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. Google's non-chatbot models have become notorious for producing outrageous hallucinations, adding to concerns about reliability in automated news systems 2

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. These incidents raise critical questions about whether tech companies are moving too quickly to automate sensitive editorial processes without adequate safeguards, particularly when dealing with topics involving race, violence, or other sensitive subjects that require human judgment and cultural awareness.