This may have happened around same time as DuckDuckGo.com changing it's policy about reducing ranking for news from certain countries like Russia - due to the Russia-Ukraine conflict.

https://twitter.com/yegg/status/1501716484761997318

Like so many others I am sickened by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the gigantic humanitarian crisis it continues to create. >#StandWithUkraine️

At DuckDuckGo, we've been rolling out search updates that down-rank sites associated with Russian disinformation.

FLCCC may have been added - as slippery slope was encountered.

In the twitter thread above, DuckDuckGo counters that they only promised privacy.

While people counter that what distinguished DuckDuckGo.com from Google was the perception of no filters.

Alternatives to DuckDuckGo.com

People in the twitter thread above were asking about alternative to DuckDuckGo.com - and it seems Brave (of Brave browser fame) may have one:

https://twitter.com/0rf/status/1502646102700535808

Wondering how to set our independent and privacy-preserving Brave Search as your default search engine?

Follow the simple steps in this page (includes instructions for the Brave browser + other leading browsers):

https://search.brave.com