Gabbard Launches Attack on Google, Says Big Tech Is 'Clear and Present Danger'
Google has a new enemy, and she’s not a Republican or a conservative media outlet owner.
Rep. Tulsi Gabbard of Hawaii is a 2020 Democrat contender for president of the United States. And she’s just launched an all-out attack on Google.
In a statement released Thursday, Gabbard’s campaign accused Google of bias against her.
After the first Democrat debate, Gabbard reportedly was the most-searched candidate on Google. This means that, organically, people were curious about who she was and what her message was about. That would have been a crucial time to feed the curiosity with a targeted ad campaign to capitalize on such a huge spike in interest.
Except Gabbard’s campaign encountered an odd and unsuspected problem: As the searches for Gabbard were at viral levels, her campaign found that “without any explanation, Google suspended Tulsi’s Google Ads account.”
“For hours, Tulsi’s campaign advertising account remained offline while Americans everywhere were searching for information about her,” her campaign said.
Unsurprisingly, attempts to get help from the tech giant were spectacularly unsatisfying.
“Google obfuscated and dissembled with a series of inconsistent and incoherent reasons for its actions,” Gabbard’s campaign said. “In the end, Google never explained to us why Tulsi’s account was suspended.”
2/3 – #Google controls 88% of internet search in the US — giving it control over our access to information. Google’s arbitrary suspension of the account of a presidential candidate should be of concern to all Americans. https://t.co/n7Y7y2dQZ9
— Tulsi Gabbard (@TulsiGabbard) July 25, 2019
3/3 – Google’s discrimination against our campaign reveals the danger of their dominance & how the dominance of big tech over public discourse threatens core American values. They threaten our democracy & #Tulsi will fight back on behalf of all Americans. https://t.co/n7Y7y2dQZ9
— Tulsi Gabbard (@TulsiGabbard) July 25, 2019
Gabbard isn’t just complaining; she has filed a $50 million lawsuit against Google in federal court.
When the most powerful search engine in the world shuts out a presidential campaign from participating in or responding to political speech, it is anti-democracy — and patriots from both parties should be appalled.
I do not agree with Gabbard on hardly any political issue, but I stand by her right to be heard and to participate in political discussion in this country.
Every single American should ask themselves if Google’s power can sway elections. And if the answer is yes, they should not be silent until action is taken.
Gabbard, a female combat veteran, has made her choice clear.
“Google’s discriminatory actions against my campaign are reflective of how dangerous their complete dominance over internet search is, and how the increasing dominance of big tech companies over our public discourse threatens our core American values,” Gabbard told The New York Times. “This is a threat to free speech, fair elections and to our democracy, and I intend to fight back on behalf of all Americans.”
Gabbard’s campaign argues that since Google will do that to her, they can and will do to others — and that is unacceptable.
“Because if Google can do this to Tulsi, a combat veteran and four term Congresswoman who is running for the nation’s highest office, Google can do this to any candidate, from any party, running for any office in the United States,” Gabbard’s campaign said.
And it didn’t stop there. The statement went scorched earth on Google and its Big Tech comrades, calling them “a clear and present danger to our democracy.”
Google has always maintained that it is a neutral platform, but because of stories like Gabbard’s, its claims are being challenged from within and without.
Greg Coppola, who has been with Google for five years, told Project Veritas’ James O’Keefe that he doesn’t believe “big tech is politically neutral.”
“I see Google executives go to Congress and say, ‘It’s not manipulated, it’s not political,’” Coppola said in an interview released Wednesday. “And I’m just so sure that’s not true.”
“Overall I’m very concerned to see Big Tech and the big media merge basically with a political party, with the Democratic Party,” Coppola said.
“I think it’s ridiculous to say there’s no bias,” he told O’Keefe. “I think everyone who supports anything other than the Democrats, anyone who’s pro-Trump or in any way deviates from what CNN, The New York Times are pushing, notices how bad it is.”
The threat of Google’s power has already caught the eye of top officials at the Department of Justice. The DOJ said Tuesday it’s opening an investigation into whether big tech companies are unlawfully reducing competition or harming consumers.
The announcement came just days after representatives from Google, Amazon, Facebook and Apple struggled to respond to accusations of antitrust during testimony before congressional lawmakers.
The DOJ’s Antitrust Division will look into “whether and how market-leading online platforms have achieved market power and are engaging in practices that have reduced competition, stifled innovation, or otherwise harmed consumers,” according to a department news release.
“The Department’s review will consider the widespread concerns that consumers, businesses, and entrepreneurs have expressed about search, social media, and some retail services online,” the statement added.
Although Google’s power reaches into our lives in many areas, it is its daily threat and control over aspects of fundamental democracy and American freedom that should enrage the good people of this country.
Action must be taken. And now, thanks to Gabbard, it isn’t just one political party sounding the alarm.
“Google controls 88 percent of all internet search in the United States — essentially giving it control over our access to information,” Gabbard’s campaign said. “That’s one reason why Tulsi has been a vocal proponent of breaking up the tech monopolies.
“And no matter what the motivation was for doing so, Google’s arbitrary and capricious decision to suspend Tulsi’s Google Ads account during a critical moment in our campaign should be of concern to all political candidates and in fact all Americans.”
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