Over the past few years, the dangers of big tech censorship have come to light. This censorship is inherently linked to politics, seeing as conservatives and folks who stray from leftism are likelier to experience online censorship.
Since the Trump presidency, various conservative online users have reported numerous experiences of censorship. Some examples include account demonizations, shadowbans, and even all-out suspensions. Big tech has largely pushed back against claims of censorship, but the writing is on the wall here.
“Tulsi Gabbard” (CC BY-SA 2.0) by Gage Skidmore
Big tech censorship is not mutually exclusive to folks on the right, however. Certain platforms also demonstrate a willingness to penalize Democrats who fail to fall in line. 2020 Democrat Tulsi Gabbard experienced this after one of her debate tussles with then-rival Kamala Harris.
Following Google’s suspension of Gabbard’s advertising account, she filed a lawsuit against the company. However, a judge threw out the lawsuit earlier this week, as documented by Breitbart News.
A Closer Look at Gabbard’s Lawsuit Against Google
The war veteran’s lawsuit against Google ultimately stated that the tech company violated her free speech rights by terminating her advertising account. In her suit, Gabbard also noted the timing of the account suspension along with documentation showing Google employees’ dismay at Trump’s 2016 election and attempts to revoke Breitbart News‘ ad revenue.
Another critical element of the 2020 Democrat’s lawsuit against Google involved the weight that the tech company carries. Gabbard’s suit pointed out that Google is “no ordinary company” and maintains the ability to “unilaterally and decisively end a presidential candidate’s bid for office.”
Nevertheless, California Judge Stephen V. Wilson dismissed Gabbard’s lawsuit. According to Wilson, the 2020 Democrat did not successfully prove that Google’s chosen management of their company maintains equivalence “to a governmental regulation of an election.”
More to Come?
Big tech censorship is not over, not by a longshot. To date, conservatives continue to report experiences of being silenced online. Tech companies’ links to liberal Silicon Valley also don’t help to solidify claims that they’re not censoring right-wing social media users.
“Google+” (CC BY 2.0) by Magnet 4 Marketing dot Net
Google, for their part, stated that the suspension of Gabbard’s advertising account happened due to a glitch. This is a curious explanation, at best, in light of the supposed glitch’s timing. Nevertheless, the tech company maintains that they restored the 2020 Democrat’s advertisement account upon realizing it was deleted.
Are you disappointed about Judge Wilson tossing Tulsi Gabbard’s lawsuit against Google’s censorship? What further role do you believe big tech censorship will play in the 2020 presidential election? Let us know in the comments section below!
