A new report from the Media Research Center has found that Big Tech giant Alphabet, aka Google, interfered in more than 40 elections since 2008, tipping the scales for liberal candidates.
The interference intensified, predictably, during the Clinton-Trump faceoff in 2016. But Google meddled in elections up and down the ticket: Obama, Clinton, Santorum, RFK Jr., Gabbard — they even helped flip congressional districts in Orange County from Republican to Democrat.
MRC founder Brent Bozell says “Google’s massive and deliberate efforts to interfere in U.S. elections … is unacceptable and the biggest threat to American democracy today.”
Key findings from MRC include:
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In 2008, Google endorsed the radical, young Sen. Obama and censored support for Sen. Clinton. Journalist Simon Owens reported at the time that the tech giant suspended the accounts of writers who wrote pro-Clinton blogs critical of Obama.
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Google allowed users to smear then-leading GOP candidate for president Rick Santorum. Google refused to correct a “Google bomb” that smeared Santorum. Google “bombing” used to be a way for users to manipulate Google’s algorithm and associate websites and names with undesirable search terms.
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In 2016, Google employed both its algorithm and its “partners” in futile attempts to push Clinton over the finish line. One study by SourceFed found that Google’s algorithm excluded potentially damaging autofill results for searches inquiring about Clinton’s alleged crimes and possible indictment
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During the 2020 Democratic primary, The tech giant disabled then-presidential candidate Tulsi Gabbard’s Google Ads account just as she became the most searched candidate following the first Democratic Party primary debate
MRC wraps its findings by suggesting House Speaker Mike Johnson direct House committees to investigate Google “for abridging people’s constitutional rights; for coordinating with government to violate freedom of speech; for interfering in elections by making unreported in-kind contributions; and for defrauding its users by failing to meet its Terms of Service.”
Will Google ever be brought to heel? Or are they just too big?