Texas Congressman Wants Answers from Google Over Kamala Treatment

Texas Republican Congressman Lance Gooden wants to know why Google "manipulated" headlines to make Kamala Harris look good.

Gooden has sent a letter to Google, saying, "The recent findings revealed by Axios concerning the Kamala Harris campaign's use of Google search ads to manipulate news headlines signify a deliberate attempt to mislead voters by falsely suggesting endorsement from major news publications. 1 This tactic, which involves editing headlines within Google ads to imply endorsement, operates within a gray area of Google's advertising policies but raises profound ethical and legal questions regarding election interference. Despite these ads being labeled as "sponsored," their integration and presentation closely mimic genuine search results, potentially deceiving voters into believing that these views are directly reported by news sources rather than being campaign-generated content. Google's position that these manipulations do not breach their advertising policies does little to ease concerns about this blatant attempt to deceive voters and interfere in the 2024 Presidential election."

It went on to say:

"In order for the American people to gain a better understanding of Google’s deliberate efforts to mislead voters ahead of the 2024 election, please respond to the following questions and provide the documents requested no later than September 3rd:

1. 1. What specific protocols has Google implemented to ensure that voters can easily recognize when news content has been altered or sponsored by political entities? Please provide details on any visual cues or disclaimers that will be made clear to users.
2. 2. Since Google's advertising practices negatively impact the reputation of established media brands, what steps is Google taking to prevent manipulation of news by political campaigns and advertisements? How does Google plan to uphold and protect the integrity and public trust of media outlets whose names or content might be co-opted in ads?
3. 3. Recently, your company claimed, “Google is committed to fighting the spread of misinformation online. We take the task of providing access to high quality, trustworthy, and credible content very seriously”. How does Google reconcile this stance with the monetization of political ads that may contain manipulated headlines or misleading content? What ethical guidelines or standards does Google enforce to balance profit motives with the imperative to provide truthful and reliable information?

You can read the full letter HERE.