08/14/2024 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 08/14/2024 13:34
Washington -Today, Congressman Lance Gooden demanded answers from Google CEO Sundar Pichai related to the Kamala Harris campaign's use of Google search ads to manipulate news headlines in a deliberate attempt to mislead voters by falsely suggesting endorsements from major news publications. This is yet another disturbing example of election interference by the world's largest search engine.
In the letter, Congressman Gooden highlighted Google's evident bias against President Trump. There have been numerous attempts this election cycle by Google to hinder former President Donald Trump's ongoing campaign for the presidency, including censoring stories relating to the July 13 assassination attempt on him in Pennsylvania; Google searches for President Trump mostly returning and prioritizing results to show positive stories on Kamala Harris first; and Autocomplete not showing President Trump's name in response to searches for "President Donald" and similar terms.
Now, Google is allowing the Harris campaign to purchase advertisements within the search results that mislead readers by linking to news stories with altered headlines that appear favorable to the vice president. This advertisement strategy is designed to imply certain media outlets endorse Kamala Harris without proof or consent from those companies.
"Google has a disturbing track record of implicit bias and election interference that overwhelmingly benefits one political party," said Congressman Gooden. "If Google is unable or unwilling to take basic steps to safeguard the integrity of our elections, I will work with my colleagues to use every tool at our disposal to ensure accountability."
Read the full letter here.