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The Republican National Committee (RNC) has sued Google to prove what conservatives already know: Big Tech discriminates against Republicans. Specifically, Google is interfering in the democratic process by suppressing our communications with voters. Google censors our get-out-the-vote emails, which go to Republicans who opt to receive them and contain important information such as how to find your polling location and how to vote. Enough is enough. Big Tech has been biased against Republicans for too long, and we are taking Google to court.
We have raised this issue with Google repeatedly and tried to work with them in good faith to solve this problem, but we have not been able to reach a solution. Here’s how we got here: a non-partisan study from North Carolina State University in March 2021 showed Google suppresses our emails at a rate 820% higher than they do Democrat emails. Here at the RNC, we’ve been tracking this activity over the past ten months, and it’s like clockwork: for most of the month, 90% of our emails reach users’ inboxes. Then, over the last few days of each month, that inboxing rate drops to 0% as Google intentionally shuts off our channel of communication with our supporters.
This Big Tech bias has real-world impacts. Early voting is now underway in 26 states. Since the start of early voting, Google has suppressed over 40 million fundraising and get-out-the-vote emails, including 1 million GOTV emails which, again, are intended to make it easier to vote for our supporters. This means that Republican voters are not getting information from their chosen political party as votes that will determine America’s future are being cast. Google is actively creating roadblocks for Americans who want to take part in the democratic process.
It’s important to note that Google does this at a far higher rate than its competitors. North Carolina State University’s study found that Microsoft Outlook and Yahoo, two similar platforms, do not route GOP emails to spam at anywhere near the same disproportionate rate that Google does. In fact, both Microsoft Outlook and Yahoo send Democrat emails to spam slightly more than Republican emails. In other words, Google’s rampant email suppression is a bug, not a feature. We filed an FEC complaint alongside the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) and National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) in May, but Google’s suppression continued. We had no choice but to file this lawsuit on behalf of our voters.
Americans do not need Big Tech oligarchs to insert themselves into the political discussion and promote one side over the other. Massive corporations run uniformly by Democrats have no right to choose which political appeals reach Republican voters and which don’t. Bias from social media platforms against Republicans is nothing new. But actively suppressing crucial get-out-the-vote emails is unacceptable censorship that proves bias beyond a doubt and totally crosses the line into real-world electioneering. If we stand idly by as a powerful company like Google does election legwork for the Democrat party, where does it end? With midterm elections in just a couple of weeks, Big Tech oligarchs should not be complicating the voting process for their own partisan gain.
This lawsuit is also a reminder of why it’s so important to elect Republicans: with a Republican House and Senate, Big Tech will finally be held accountable for its rampant censorship of conservatives across America. Don’t let Silicon Valley get in between you and your vote. Come November, let’s elect a new generation of conservative leaders who will put an end to this blatant bias.
Ronna McDaniel is a politician and political strategist serving as chair of the Republican National Committee (RNC) since 2017. She was chair of the Michigan Republican Party from 2015 to 2017 // Ronna McDaniel es política y estratega política, se desempeña como presidenta del Comité Nacional Republicano (RNC) desde 2017. Fue presidenta del Partido Republicano de Michigan de 2015 a 2017.