Google Apologises After News Notification Contained Racial Slur

Google has issued a public apology after a push notification distributed through its news service contained a racial slur linked to coverage of the 2026 British Academy Film Awards.

The notification, which was sent to a limited number of users subscribed to Google News alerts, referenced reporting related to an incident that occurred during the awards ceremony. The alert included the unedited offensive term in its preview text and invited users to “see more” in connection with the story. Screenshots of the notification were shared on social media shortly after it was received.

The incident referenced in the notification took place during the BAFTA ceremony on 22 February 2026. During a live segment in which actors Michael B. Jordan and Delroy Lindo were presenting an award, an audience member with Tourette’s syndrome involuntarily shouted a racial slur. The moment was captured during the broadcast. Organisers of the awards later apologised for the distress caused by the incident.

Following circulation of the Google notification, the company confirmed that the message had been removed and that it should not have been sent in its published form.

In a statement provided to media outlets, a Google spokesperson said the company was “deeply sorry” for the notification and confirmed that the issue was not the result of generative artificial intelligence. According to Google, its systems identified a euphemistic reference to the slur across multiple web pages and mistakenly inserted the explicit term into the push notification text. The company stated that its content safeguards did not operate as intended in this instance.

Google said the alert was sent to a small subset of users who had opted in to receive news notifications. The company has not publicly disclosed the exact number of recipients. It stated that corrective measures were being implemented to prevent a recurrence.

The company further clarified that Google News notifications are generated through automated systems that summarise and distribute content based on trending topics, user preferences, and publisher feeds. It reiterated that the wording of the notification was the result of a systems error rather than manual editorial input.

The broadcaster of the awards ceremony, the BBC, also issued a separate apology regarding the unedited broadcast of the original incident at the ceremony. The organisation acknowledged that the language aired during the event caused offence.

The notification incident has prompted renewed attention to automated content distribution systems used by major technology platforms. Google has stated that it is reviewing its processes and safeguards in relation to push notifications.

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How Push Notifications Work

Push notifications are short alerts sent directly to a user’s device by an application or platform. In the case of news services, notifications are typically generated through automated systems that scan published articles, identify trending topics, and summarise key information into brief text previews.

These systems rely on algorithms that analyse headlines, keywords, and metadata supplied by publishers. The notification text is then delivered to users who have opted in to receive alerts based on their interests or subscription settings.

Content moderation safeguards are designed to filter restricted or offensive language before notifications are distributed. When these safeguards do not function as intended, text drawn from source material may appear in notifications without additional editing.

Google has stated that the notification in question resulted from a failure within its filtering systems and has confirmed that it is implementing measures to strengthen its review processes.

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