Google has ‘interfered’ with elections 41 times over the last 16 years, Media Research Center says
‘No organization has more control over information than Google,’ Brent Bozell told Fox News Digital
Google has “interfered” with major elections in the United States 41 times over the last 16 years, according to a new study from the Media Research Center.
“MRC researchers have found 41 times where Google interfered in elections over the last 16 years, and its impact has surged dramatically, making it evermore harmful to democracy. In every case, Google harmed the candidates – regardless of party – who threatened its left-wing candidate of choice,” MRC Free Speech America vice president Dan Schneider and editor Gabriela Pariseau wrote in a summary of their findings.
“From the mouths of Google executives, the tech giant let slip what was never meant to be made public: That Google uses its “great strength and resources and reach” to advance its leftist values,” they continued. “Google’s outsized influence on information technology, the body politic and American elections became evident in 2008. After failing to prevent then-candidate for president Donald Trump from being inaugurated following the 2016 election, Google has since made clear to any discerning observer that it has been — and will continue — interfering in America’s elections.”
Google pushed back, insisting it has a “clear business incentive” to keep both sides happy and that safeguards ensure non-biased and accurate search results.
MRC Free Speech America, a division of the conservative Media Research Center, believes the most recent example was recorded after Google artificial intelligence Gemini “refused to answer questions damaging” to President Biden.
The group’s research found that from 2008 through February 2024, “Google has utilized its power to help push to electoral victory the most liberal candidates, regardless of party, while targeting their opponents for censorship.”
Examples include appearing to favor Barack Obama over John McCain in 2008, favoring Obama over Mitt Romney in 2012, refusing to correct a “Google bomb” that “smeared” then-leading GOP primary candidate for president Rick Santorum, using its algorithm to exclude autofill results that were potentially damaging to Hilly Clinton in 2016, “not doing the same for then-candidates Donald Trump or Bernie Sanders,” and working with partners to help likely pro-Clinton Latino voters go to the polls that same year, according to MRC Free Speech America.
Other examples cited by the MRC include disabling Tulsi Gabbard’s Ads account just as she became the most searched candidate following the first Democratic Party primary debate in 2020, suppressing news critical of Biden, concealing most Republican campaign websites for the 12 competitive Senate races in 2022, and aiding Biden in 2024 by “burying in its search results the campaign websites of every one of his significant opponents.”
The study cites several other examples.
“Utilizing the many tools in its arsenal, Google aided those who most closely aligned with its leftist values from election cycle to election cycle since as far back as the 2008 presidential election. Meanwhile, it targeted for censorship those candidates who posed the most serious threat,” Schneider and Pariseau wrote.
“While its interference was first evident in 2008, its meddling has turned into an organizational mission to ensure that its candidates win on election day,” they continued. “Many studies reveal the results of the tech giant’s commitment.”
Schneider and Pariseau cited AllSides and Dr. Robert Epstein, who performed additional research and found that “Google’s search algorithm likely shifted at least 2.6 million votes to Hillary Clinton” in 2016 and that “Google’s results and get-out-the-vote reminders favored Democrats and shifted the 2020 election results by at least 6 million votes.”
Google strongly denied any wrongdoing.
“There is absolutely nothing new here – just a recycled list of baseless, inaccurate complaints that have been debunked by third parties and many that failed in the courts. Politicians on the left have a long history of making similar claims too. We have a clear business incentive to keep everyone using our products, so we have no desire to make them biased or inaccurate and have safeguards in place to ensure this. Numerous conservatives have been particularly successful in using our platforms to spread their message to a wide audience,” a Google spokesperson told Fox News Digital.
Google has said it is restricting the types of election-related queries on Gemini out of an abundance of caution, directing users to Google Search instead. As for Gabbard’s ads, Google points to a federal judge dismissing a lawsuit she filed against the company on the matter.
MRC Free Speech America offered three recommendations.
The conservative watchdog feels Speaker Mike Johnson should “direct relevant committees and committee chairmen to investigate Google for abridging people’s constitutional rights” by “coordinating with government to violate freedom of speech,” “interfering in elections by making unreported in-kind contributions,” and for “defrauding its users by failing to meet its Terms of Service.”
The group also feels state legislatures should resolve any question of whether Google is a common carrier and urged Americans should stop using Google products, particularly its search engine.
“From our research, alternatives appear to produce better, less biased results,” Schneider and Pariseau wrote.
Media Research Center founder and president Brent Bozell urged Congress to act.
“No organization has more control over information than Google, and they have repeatedly used that power to manipulate the public to vote for the most left-wing candidates in every major election since 2008. It’s un-American to attempt to manipulate elections this way. It’s time Congress acts to shut down this massive election interference scheme,” Bozell told Fox News Digital.