Mozilla Firefox removes the default search engines Yandex Search, Mail.ru and OK.ru for fear of spreading fake news from the government.
The three search engines mentioned are the three largest and most popular search engines in Russia, used by hundreds of millions of people. Yandex was available as a default option for Russian users since 2014. With the release of browser version 98.0.1 however, users will no longer find the mentioned options in the search engine settings. Initially, Mozilla gave no reason for this on its own blog.
Firefox without Russian search engines
For the people affected by this change, Mozilla, the developer of the browser, has a clear message. All customizations, add-ons and favorites associated with the search engines have also been removed. Now when users start the browser, they see that Google is set as the default option. Fortunately, Mozilla did issue a statement to the editors of Bleeping Computer†
This is in response to “credible posts about search results that prioritize state-sponsored content.” And that goes against Mozilla’s principles. Unfortunately, the company does not give examples of fake news that would show up in the search engines, but it is probably fake news that distorts the truth about, for example, the war in Ukraine. The change applies to people in Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan and Turkey.
