Google Search For 'SA Squatter Camps' Reveals Mostly Poor Whites

The prominence of white 'squatters' on Google's search stands in stark contrast to the millions of black South Africans who live in such conditions.

Social media users are questioning why the results of a Google search for "squatter camps in South Africa" mostly shows impoverished white citizens.

When you type the phrase into Google's search box and click on the images tab, pictures which feature most prominently show white South Africans in informal settlements.

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When you type the phrase into the search engine and select the "All" category, the first page of results only include news articles on white South Africans living in so-called squatter camps.

The prominence of white "squatters" on Google's search stands in stark contrast to the millions of black South Africans who live in such conditions.

According to AfricaCheck, which in an article in 2013 released a report dispelling claims that 400,000 white citizens lived in abject poverty, and quoted Statistics South Africa's 2011 General Household Survey, just over 1.6-million households living in these "informal dwellings" were defined as "black African". According to the survey, only about 98,000 Asian, coloured and white households lived in "informal dwellings" of any kind.

Social media users questioned why black South Africans living in informal settlements were not represented in the search.

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