White House hopeful Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, Hawaii Democrat, earned praised Friday from one of President Trump’s election campaign advisers for suing Google this week.
“I know Tulsi personally, I don’t always agree with her policies but this is clearly Google trying to put their hand on the scale at a critical time,” said Tony Shaffer, a member of the Trump 2020 advisory board.
“She was very much in a position to make a lot of money, and the idea of her being at a critical moment – essentially her First Amendment right taken away – was something that she had every right to go after them on,” he said on Hill.tv.
Ms. Gabbard’s presidential campaign, “Tulsi Now, Inc.,” sued Google in Los Angeles federal court Thursday for having briefly suspended an account it had used to advertise the candidate online. The lawsuit alleges Google violated its First Amendment right to free speech, among other statutes, and seeks an injunction against the company and no less than $50 million in damages.
“Google’s arbitrary and capricious treatment of Gabbard’s campaign should raise concerns for policymakers everywhere about the company’s ability to use its dominance to impact political discourse, in a way that interferes with the upcoming 2020 presidential election,” lawyers for the Gabbard campaign wrote in the lawsuit.
The president of the London Center for Policy Research, Mr. Shaffer agreed the lawsuit should raise concerns across the board.
“This is something that we have to look at, both sides,” he said. “You cannot have a corporate entity making decisions which affect the ability for people to do what is necessary to have freedom of speech.”
Google previously denied censoring the congresswoman’s presidential campaign.
“In this case, our system triggered a suspension and the account was reinstated shortly thereafter,” said Jose Castaneda, a spokesman for the company. “We are proud to offer ad products that help campaigns connect directly with voters, and we do so without bias toward any party or political ideology.”
Mr. Trump, on his part, previously accused Google without evidence of having “rigged” search results to primarily return negative news articles about his presidency. Google denied that claim as well.
• Andrew Blake can be reached at ablake@washingtontimes.com.
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