Senate Republicans accuse Google of bias after taking thousands from its PAC

Lawmakers like Ted Cruz want the tech giant to be held accountable for supposed discrimination against conservatives.

JOSH ISRAEL
JUL 17, 2019, 11:48 AM

Senate Republicans resumed their crusade to convince Americans that the internet is biased against conservatives, holding a hearing Tuesday called “Google and Censorship through Search Engines.”

At the hearing, the Republican majority on the Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution accused the search engine of viewpoint discrimination because John Oliver videos are more popular than those made by Fox News personalities Diamond and Silk.

But a ThinkProgress review of campaign finance records reveals that these and other Senate Republicans have received tens of thousands of dollars from Google’s political action committee. And Google’s NetPAC actually gave more to Republican federal candidates than Democratic federal candidates in each of the past four campaign cycles.

The hearing was chaired by Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX). “If Big Tech cannot provide us with evidence, clear compelling data and evidence, that it’s not playing Big Brother with its vast, immense powers, there’s no reason on Earth why Congress should give them a special subsidy through Section 230,” he demanded, suggesting that Google and other tech companies should be treated as guilty until proven innocent.

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