Google blocked foreign operations from trying to sway election

Google thwarted foreign influence operations aimed at leveraging its news aggregation service to manipulate voters before the U.S. election, according to a new report from the Big Tech company.

Google’s Threat Analysis Group said this week it restricted the visibility of websites linked to Iran and Russia from appearing on Google News’ platforms.

The company said it stopped 27 web domains from appearing on its Google News and Discover search services as part of an investigation into coordinated influence campaigns from Iran.

“The campaign was sharing content in Arabic, English, French and Spanish about the Israel-Palestine conflict, U.S. military engagement in the Middle East, social issues in the U.S., and the U.S. election, including narratives from across the political spectrum,” wrote TAG’s Billy Leonard on the company’s blog.

Mr. Leonard said the company’s investigation into Russian influence operations led it to terminate 10 YouTube channels publishing English-language content related to the U.S. election.

Google also restricted seven web domains from visibility on Google News that were part of a Russian-linked coordinated influence campaign targeting American politics.

“The campaign was linked to the actor publicly tracked as Doppelganger and was sharing content in English, French, German and Turkish that was supportive of Russia and was critical of Ukraine,” Mr. Leonard wrote. “It also shared content about European politics, U.S. domestic and foreign policy issues, and the U.S. presidential election.”

Details about what Google saw come in the aftermath of the U.S. intelligence community’s disclosures that it observed Iran supporting Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign while Russia preferred President-elect Donald Trump.

Google’s new report demonstrates foreign countries’ desire to infiltrate the news and information that Americans consume to shape the Western world’s views.

Beyond content about U.S. elections, countries such as China sought to influence American attitudes about foreign affairs.

Google said it stopped China from leveraging Google News and YouTube in coordinated influence operations, including by deleting 6,318 YouTube channels.

“We blocked 206 domains from eligibility to appear on Google News surfaces and Discover as part of our investigation into coordinated influence operations,” Mr. Leonard wrote. “The campaign was linked to a technology and marketing company and was sharing content about a variety of topics supportive of the People’s Republic of China, including content about the 2024 Taiwan election and content critical of U.S. foreign policy.”