Google to 'de-rank' stories from Russia Today and Sputnik

Google will downgrade stories from sites owned by the Russian government in response to fears that they interfered in the US election.

Eric Schmidt, chairman of Google's parent company Alphabet, said the search engine needed to tackle the spread of misinformation. 

The sites that it will "derank" on its search results include Russia Today (RT) and Sputnik - two of Russia's biggest media outlets. 

The websites said Google's move was a form of censorship but US intelligence agencies have previously described RT as a "state-run propaganda machine".

Speaking at the Halifax International Security Forum, Mr Schmidt singled out the two sites saying: "We're well aware of this one, and we're working on detecting this kind of scenario you're describing and deranking those kinds of sites."

"I am strongly not in favour of censorship. I am very strongly in favour of ranking. It's what we do," he added.

"It's a very legitimate question as to how we rank, A or B, right? And we do the best we can in millions and millions of rankings every day".

Mr Schmidt did not reveal when the change to the search engine's algorithm would be made.

The search engine is constantly alert to threats from organisations seeking to manipulate the news agenda with new tools, he added.

The sites have responded angrily to the move, accusing Google of "defying all logic and reason".

Margarita Simonyan, editor in chief of both RT and Sputnik, said in a statement: "Good to have Google on record as defying all logic and reason: facts aren't allowed if they come from RT, 'because Russia' - even if we have Google on Congressional record saying they've found no manipulation of their platform or policy violations by RT".

RT was implicated in a report by US intelligence agencies looking into the Russian government's attempt to tip the US presidential election in favour of Donald Trump.

The news organisation has subsequently been forced to register itself as a "foreign agent" by the US department of justice.

Last month Twitter revealed that it would no longer allow advertisements from the websites following evidence that Russian-backed sites had contributed to the spread of false information.

The Russian government has repeatedly denied claims that it interfered in the election.