"Illegal Exposure to Bad Talk"... Trump Threatens to Punish Google

Trump Claims Harris Shows 'Good' Content
Google Refutes, Says "Same Exposure for Common-Sense Searches"

Former U.S. President Donald Trump threatened to impose the maximum penalty on Google if he wins the upcoming U.S. presidential election, claiming that the company "illegally shows bad content" about him.

[Image source=AFP Yonhap News]

On the 27th (local time), the New York Times (NYT) and others reported that Trump threatened on his social media platform Truth Social the day before that if he is elected president, he will impose the maximum penalty on Google, which "illegally shows bad content" about him while showing "only good content" about his opponent, Vice President Kamala Harris.

Trump claimed, "It has been confirmed that Google uses an illegal system that only publishes bad stories about Donald Trump, even fabricating some, while only publishing good stories about Kamala Harris." He added, "This is an illegal act, and I expect the Department of Justice to criminally punish blatant election interference. If not, when I win the election and become president of the United States, I will request the maximum penalty according to national law." However, it is unclear what evidence Trump has to support his claim that Google should be punished.

Republicans have long complained that Google's algorithms favor the Democratic Party. However, a Google spokesperson refuted the Republican claims of bias, stating, "When appropriate and reasonable search queries are made, election websites from both sides appear equally at the top of search results."

On the same day, Trump also threatened at a press conference to punish former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi in connection with the rioters who supported Trump during the January 6, 2021, Capitol riot. He has claimed that the Capitol riot was a problem caused by Pelosi's failure to respond when she was Speaker of the House at the time. Additionally, on the 27th, in Michigan, he argued that the prosecutor in the "Republican-leaning area" should investigate the sale of Visa stock by former Speaker Pelosi and her husband, which the U.S. Department of Justice had charged with antitrust violations.