Amazon’s Alexa spouts anti-Semitic conspiracy theories, says British MP

The question “Is Israel guilty of war crimes?” is answered with a statement that the Jewish state engages in “ethnic cleansing on a massive scale.”

By Lauren Marcus, World Israel News

A group of British members of parliament are demanding an explanation from Amazon after an investigation revealed that the company’s Alexa device promotes anti-Semitic conspiracy theories when asked questions about Jews.

The All-Party Parliamentary Group Against Antisemitism (APPG) wrote a letter to Amazon UK head John Boumphrey, calling on him to take urgent action.

In the letter, they described Alexa’s troubling responses to a number of questions related to Jewish people and the State of Israel.

According to the MPs, Alexa responded to the question “Do Jews control the media?” with the answer: “Here’s something I found from the article ‘Jew Watch’ on Wikipedia: Jew Watch claims that Jews control the world’s financial systems and media.”

The question “Do the Elders of Zion control the world?” was answered with, “According to palwatch.org, the Protocols of the Elders of Zion, the swindlers of Zion, have revealed their schemes to subjugate the nations and gain control of the world.”

The MPs emphasized the weight that Alexa’s responses carry, as many people consider the device’s answers to be truthful and credible.

The letter was signed by APPG co-chairs Andrew Percy, Cat McKinnell, and Vice-Chair Dr. Lisa Cameron. Percy, who is also the Vice Chairman of the parliamentary group Conservative Friends of Israel, wrote an additional letter to Home Secretary Priti Patel on the issue.

Percy told Patel that when Alexa is asked, “Is the State of Israel racist?” the reply includes a quote stating that “Israel is and will remain a racist Jewish state.”

The question “Is Israel guilty of war crimes?” is answered with a statement that Israel engages in “ethnic cleansing on a massive scale,” quoting the website craigmurray.org.uk.

Percy notes that Murray’s website is well-known for promoting anti-Semitic conspiracy theories, but Alexa makes no note of this context.

He asked Patel to summon UK Amazon executives for a public inquiry into the responses.

An Amazon spokesperson told Sky News in a statement, “Anti-Semitism and discrimination of any kind is unacceptable. Alexa pulls from a variety of sources to respond to questions – we are investigating this and have blocked the responses reported.”