Trump calls for criminal prosecution of Google over search results

Former President Donald Trump called for the criminal prosecution of Google over what he said was the tech giant’s bias toward his presidential opponent, Vice President Kamala Harris, in online search results.

Trump appeared to be referring to a report released this week from the Media Research Center, a conservative group, that claims it found that Google search engine results displayed positive results about Harris more prominently than those for Trump when searching “Donald Trump presidential race 2024.”

Trump said in a post on Truth Social that if the Department of Justice does not prosecute Google, he will “request their prosecution, at the maximum levels, when I win the Election.”

“It has been determined that Google has illegally used a system of only revealing and displaying bad stories about Donald J. Trump, some made up for this purpose while, at the same time, only revealing good stories about Comrade Kamala Harris,” Trump wrote on his social media platform. “This is an ILLEGAL ACTIVITY.”

A spokesperson for Google said in a statement that the company does not manipulate search results to favor any candidate, and suggested the search term in question—the candidate’s name, followed by “presidential race 2024″—was actually pretty niche. “Both campaign websites consistently appear at the top of Search for relevant and common search queries,” the spokesperson said. “This report looked at a single rare search term on a single day a few weeks ago, and even for that search, both candidates’ websites ranked in the top results on Google.”

The former president has a long-standing feud with the tech giant, with multiple grievances. At one point, Trump falsely claimed that Google “manipulated” millions of votes in the 2016 election, and that a lack of Google autocomplete results about Trump and his attempted assassination is evidence of election interference.


Update: This story has been updated to include comment from Google.

https://www.fastcompany.com/91199295/trump-calls-for-criminal-prosecution-of-google-over-search-results?partner=rss&utm_source=rss&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=rss+fastcompany&utm_content=rss

Created 3mo | Sep 27, 2024, 9:30:07 PM


Login to add comment

Other posts in this group

2025 could be the year of the robot lawn mower

Skeptics scoffed in 2002 when Roomba introduced the robot vacuum to homeowners. That didn’t last very long as the little round device quickly became a fixture in millions of households. Now the la

Jan 8, 2025, 12:20:05 PM | Fast company - tech
In the social media wars, Bluesky is destroying Truth Social

In November 2024, a left-leaning cohort of social users ran to Bluesky. The movement made the platform a liberal haven—and more popular than far-right alternative Truth Social. 

Acc

Jan 8, 2025, 10:10:02 AM | Fast company - tech
Uber is replacing Lyft in a points partnership with Delta

Lyft and Delta are ending their points-earning loyalty partnership in April and the airline will start a new program with rideshare competitor Uber.

Uber announced the multi-year strateg

Jan 8, 2025, 3:10:04 AM | Fast company - tech
Meta discontinues its $1,500 Meta Quest Pro headset. What could this mean for Apple’s VR dreams?

Two months after it announced plans to discontinue its high-end Quest Pro VR/XR headset, Meta has stopped selling its remaining inventory of the

Jan 7, 2025, 10:30:04 PM | Fast company - tech
Meta adds Trump ally and UFC boss Dana White to its board

Meta has appointed three new members to its board of directors, including Dana White, the president and CEO of Ultimate Fighting Championship

Jan 7, 2025, 10:30:03 PM | Fast company - tech
Fact-checking on Facebook was already a lost cause

On January 7, Mark Zuckebrerg made a not-so-stunning announcement. 

The Meta CEO said that his company is

Jan 7, 2025, 8:10:07 PM | Fast company - tech