Is “Trump News” Proof Of Google Censorship? Not So Fast
President Donald Trump poses for a portrait in the Oval Office in Washington after an interview with The Associated Press. April 21, 2017 (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)
At 5:24 am Tuesday morning, the President of the United States sent out a series of tweets attacking Google, claiming that they are rigging their search results to display negative news about him and suppressing conservative media. Trump then said it would be “addressed.” He then deleted them and sent them out later in the morning.
Google search results for “Trump News” shows only the viewing/reporting of Fake News Media. In other words, they have it RIGGED, for me & others, so that almost all stories & news is BAD. Fake CNN is prominent. Republican/Conservative & Fair Media is shut out. Illegal? 96% of….
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 28, 2018
….results on “Trump News” are from National Left-Wing Media, very dangerous. Google & others are suppressing voices of Conservatives and hiding information and news that is good. They are controlling what we can & cannot see. This is a very serious situation-will be addressed!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 28, 2018
Trump’s economic adviser Larry Kudlow said the Trump administration is looking into whether Google search results should be regulated. Google ($GOOG) opened 6pts lower this morning.
Like most of his Twitter tirades, this was apparently triggered by a Fox News segment. Lou Dobbs used a dubious source which labels The New York Times and The Washington Post as far-left. Thread:
Good morning. The president was up before dawn this morning watching and tweeting about last night’s episode of Fox’s Lou Dobbs Tonight.
Left, Dobbs, 7:30 pm
Right, Trump, 5:24 am pic.twitter.com/7eArOEwChe— Matthew Gertz (@MattGertz) August 28, 2018
Google responded:
Breaking: Google statement in response to Trump tweet pic.twitter.com/QqMuxQ7gkj
— Hadas Gold (@Hadas_Gold) August 28, 2018
If you know anything about how Google’s search engine works, you know these are lies. Google search ranks news by freshness, relevance, traffic, quality, and credibility. So if “Trump News” is surfacing negative stories, that’s because Trump is being covered negatively by most credible news outlets, likely because he was doing something worthy of condemnation. And if there aren’t many conservative sources surfacing, which is not the case, that’s likely because conservative media tends to publish false content.
NBC News‘ take was spot on:
Trump’s Google claim “deserves to be treated as merely the complaint of someone who doesn’t like how he’s been reported on. But … the conservative media echo chamber will be weighing in here, feeding a narrative that’s both false and helps their bottom line.” @NBCFirstRead
— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) August 28, 2018
This is just the latest baseless attempt by the President to decry what he is falsely claiming is censorship. As tech companies continue to purge their feeds of trolls, bots, fake news, and hateful content, expect more of these claims from the President and conservatives. They will continue to use the guise of free speech. And we will continue to call them out every step of the way.
The Constitution protects free speech
It doesn’t guarantee access to privately-owned platforms to spread that speech
If you are a Nazi, a Russian bot, Alex Jones, or anyone else spreading lies that endanger lives, you’re not entitled to a platform—Period https://t.co/mzX6gmCw5d
— Rantt Media (@RanttMedia) August 24, 2018
