this post was submitted on 08 Mar 2026
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Dear Americans. I use Gemini as a reading assistant for non fiction books. Currently I am reading The origins of totalitarianism by Hannah Arendt and I was asking about parallels in modern US society. I noticed something odd. While questions about historical facts are answered definitively and accurately, questions relating to January 6th are answered with some sort of ",oh well people don't agree" garbage.

After a long dialogue about it and asking what the scholarly consensus was, I finally got the correct answer.

I just wanted to raise this because it looks sus to me in a big way but maybe I am overreacting? It felt like gas lighting. Also practically nobody in the free world is under any illusion of what January 6 was.

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[–] MissesAutumnRains@lemmy.blahaj.zone 11 points 2 days ago (2 children)

I don't often use Gemini, but I was curious about this because I got a very different response.

"According to the findings of the House Select Committee, numerous federal court rulings, and the Department of Justice, the events of January 6, 2021, were the culmination of a multi-part effort to overturn the results of the 2020 U.S. presidential election.

The consensus from these official investigations characterizes the day not just as a riot, but as a deliberate attempt to disrupt the peaceful transfer of power. Here is a breakdown of the evidence and conclusions:

Official Findings and Goals The Primary Objective: The House Select Committee concluded that the central goal of the attack was to prevent a joint session of Congress from certifying the Electoral College votes, thereby keeping Donald Trump in power despite his electoral loss.

Premeditation: Evidence showed that extremist groups, such as the Oath Keepers and Proud Boys, planned for violence weeks in advance. Several leaders of these groups were later convicted of seditious conspiracy—a charge specifically involving a plot to oppose the authority of the U.S. government by force.

The "Big Lie": Investigations found that the attack was fueled by sustained, false claims of widespread voter fraud. The committee argued these claims were used to pressure Vice President Mike Pence and members of Congress to unilaterally reject legitimate vote counts.

Legal and Historical Classifications While the terms used to describe the day often vary by political perspective, several specific legal and academic labels have been applied based on the evidence: Insurrection: The House of Representatives impeached Donald Trump for "incitement of insurrection," and multiple federal judges have referred to the events as such in sentencing rioters.

Attempted Coup: Many historians and political scientists classify it as an "attempted self-coup" (or autogolpe), where a leader already in power attempts to stay in office through illegal means.

Domestic Terrorism: The FBI has classified the breach of the Capitol as an act of domestic terrorism due to the use of violence to achieve political or social objectives.

Alternative Viewpoints While the official investigative consensus is clear, a segment of the public and some political figures characterize the day differently. Some argue it was a "peaceful protest that got out of hand" or a "spontaneous riot" rather than an organized attempt to overthrow the government. However, these claims are generally contradicted by the sworn testimony of participants, internal communications recovered by the FBI, and the specific targeting of the certification process itself.
Would you like me to look into the specific legal charges brought against the organizers, or perhaps the security failures that occurred that day?"

I wonder if the differences in response are due to previous conversations we've had? Maybe Gemini is tailoring its responses to what it expects either of us want to hear?

[–] ImNotThatPokable@lemmy.world 1 points 32 minutes ago

I did put in a complaint. Maybe they fixed it.

[–] Maeve@kbin.earth 5 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Could you please share query terms? Other LLM users have commented you have to use certain specific search parameters or goad them into answering honestly. Tyia

[–] MissesAutumnRains@lemmy.blahaj.zone 6 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) (2 children)

~~I just asked the same thing that the OP did~~. Oops, I guess my exact verbiage DID deviate a bit. I used the numeral for 6 and specified in the US. Other than this, I don't have any other settings or changes to have it respond to me in a specific way. Like I said, I don't use it often.

I don't live in the US, though, so maybe that is a factor as well?

[–] ImNotThatPokable@lemmy.world 1 points 32 minutes ago

I don't live in the US either.

[–] Maeve@kbin.earth 4 points 2 days ago

The wording is slightly different. I wonder what made the actual difference?