Google said that it was looking at changing its algorithm to stop Google news giving any weight to Russian media outlets RT and Sputnik. These sites are owned by the Russian government and have been used to distribute “fake news” to the stupid of the US.

Part of the problem for Google was that the news items were SEOed to the nines meaning that its search engine algorithms thought that they were kosher.

Alphabet Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt, speaking at an international forum this month, responded to a question about Sputnik articles appearing on Google by saying the company was working to give less prominence to “those kinds of websites” as opposed to delisting them.

However the Russian watchdog Roskomnadzor threw its toys out of the pram at the statement, screaming that Google was stepping on free speech and that it would impose sanctions against Google.

After all if the US stops listening to Russian fake news and its own home-grown versions such as the New York Times and Fox, the country might just start making intelligent choices and realise that Putin is not as nice as they think.