Investigative reporting unit Project Veritas has sent letters to members of Congress alleging that Google is potentially violating the Federal Election Campaign Act (FECA) and suggesting that Congress should reconsider the protections Google enjoys under Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act (CDA).
Project Veritas is basing these claims on its recent investigative report which revealed that Google is using biased artificial intelligence (AI) to manipulate its search results and planning to prevent another “Trump situation” in 2020.
In the letters, Project Veritas argues that under the FECA, corporations such as Google are prohibited from using their resources to support or oppose a candidate for office and that the examples of Google using its resources to alter search results, impact electoral internet traffic, or otherwise prevent a candidate from winning an election, as showcased in its investigative report, are “likely in violation of federal election law.”
Project Veritas also suggests that the immunity Google enjoys under Section 230 of the CDA, which protects it from liability for third-party content hosted on its platforms, should be reconsidered because Google is using biased AI to produce search results based on its own subjective determination of what is fair rather than what is objectively true. Project Veritas says that the underlying principle of the CDA is to protect free speech but Google’s manipulation of search results along with other forms of censorship and content suppression that the company employs are damaging free speech interests.
Additionally, Project Veritas points to its previous investigations into Facebook, Pinterest, and Twitter as further examples of big tech platforms preventing free speech and being “curated echo chambers.”
Project Veritas sent the letter to the following members of Congress:
- Senator Ted Cruz
- Rep. Louis Gohmert
- Senator Elizabeth Warren
- Senator Mike Lee
- Senator Josh Hawley
- Senator Richard Blumenthal
- Senator Ed Markey
- Rep. David Cicilline
- Rep. Steve King
- Rep. Jim Jordan
- Senator Mark Warner
Gohmert and Cruz have both commented on the report since it was released with Gohmert saying it “shows Google’s biases are now a threat to a free and fair election” and Cruz questioning Google about its contents during a Senate Commerce Committee hearing.
