Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-Hawaii) has filed a lawsuit against Google for violating her free speech rights. Gabbard is running for the 2020 presidential nomination and alleges that the tech company suspended her advertising account for several critical hours last month. The congresswoman says that Google suspended her account following the first debate, precisely when interest in her was surging.
Google denies any untoward activity, as they always do, claiming that it was the “large spending changes” in the candidates account that caused the suspension. Are the geniuses at Google too stupid to realize that a presidential campaign might increase its spending following a highly publicized presidential debate?
“We have automated systems that flag unusual activity on all advertiser accounts – including large spending changes – in order to prevent fraud and protect our customers,” the spokeswoman said.
“In this case, our system triggered a suspension and the account was reinstated shortly thereafter.”
It’s always the system, isn’t it? Who build the system?
“With this lawsuit, Tulsi seeks to stop Google from further intermeddling in the 2020 United States Presidential Election,” the complaint reads.
The biased hacks over at The Hill want you to know that:
Gabbard’s lawsuit reflects a narrative typically espoused by Republicans, many of whom have spent years claiming that the top tech companies in the world routinely censor their perspectives. President Trump has long accused the companies of discriminating against himself and other Republicans, and last month held a “social media summit” dedicated explicitly to the issue.
Naturally, Republicans are the ones who complain because they are the ones typically censored. The fact that Gabbard is getting the Bernie Sanders 2016 treatment on a search engine is newer territory. Consider Trump censorship a beta-test to make sure the right Democrat wins the nomination.
“For hours, as millions of Americans searched Google for information about Tulsi, and as Tulsi was trying, through Google, to speak to them, her Google Ads account was arbitrarily and forcibly taken offline,” it reads. “Throughout this period, the Campaign worked frantically to gather more information about the suspension.”
“In response, the Campaign got opacity and an inconsistent series of answers from Google,” it states.
The campaign is seeking $50 million in damages. I hope they get it.