His statement, shared on the social media platform X, implied that such censorship could impact the upcoming election:
BREAKING: I am launching an investigation into Google – the biggest search engine in America – for censoring conservative speech during the most consequential election in our nation’s history.
Google is waging war on the democratic process.
It’s time to fight back.
— Attorney General Andrew Bailey (@AGAndrewBailey) October 25, 2024
Google responded to these accusations in a statement to Reuters, firmly denying any political bias in its search algorithms and stating that its platform aims to provide all users with relevant information, regardless of political views. The company labeled Missouri’s allegations as “totally false”.This is so reassuring. I mean, if they say so, then that must be the truth, right? It’s not like tech giants have a history of censorship and bias. Absolutely not. Nothing to see, move along!
It’s just that none other than Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg confessed a while ago that Meta shouldn’t have censored the Hunter Biden laptop story, but gave in. And it did so with the Covid-19 narrative. Funny.
In 2020, a controversy emerged around Hunter Biden, son of then-presidential candidate Joe Biden, and became a potential influence on the presidential election. This happened against the backdrop of the COVID-19 pandemic, where comments on both Covid-19 and the Hunter Biden story were restricted on social media platforms, including Facebook and Instagram.
Recently, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg acknowledged in a letter to House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan that it was a mistake to “limit” discussions on these topics. He admitted that senior Biden administration officials had pressured Meta to censor specific COVID-19 content, including humorous or satirical posts, expressing frustration when Meta initially resisted.
Zuckerberg also revealed that the FBI had cautioned Meta about a possible Russian disinformation campaign involving the Biden family ahead of the 2020 election, leading Meta to temporarily demote the Hunter Biden laptop story. Reflecting on these decisions, Zuckerberg stated that, with hindsight, Meta might have chosen differently.
So, I’m sure that Google (and Google’s products like YouTube) doesn’t skew its algorithms in any particular way. I mean, if they say so! That’s why if you get the impression that the “Go vote!” Google doodle (the interactive image on its homepage) is only targeting Democrats, you’re wrong. It can’t be so. Because it’s a free, unbiased (tech) world!
