Google has joined Facebook, who launched its new Voting Information Center campaign, in an apparent trend to register more U.S voters in preparation for the upcoming presidential election.
The search giant released a similar campaign to register voters earlier today, which it said will help voters access important information and “connect[] people to the democratic process.”
“We just launched two features in Google Search with detailed information about how to register and how to vote,” Google’s announcement stated. “We know election deadlines and requirements vary by state, so no matter where you live, you can search for ‘how to register to vote’—and you’ll find information about voter registration in your state.”
Google also stated that results for “how to vote” will include “details about how you can vote in your state—ID requirements, registration and voting deadlines, and guidance for different means of voting, like in person or mail.”
The platform stated that it is partnering with “non-partisan, third-party partners, such as Democracy Works.” Democracy Works claimed on its “About” section that it is “building the tools needed to upgrade the infrastructure of our democracy and improve the voting experience for voters and election officials alike.” However, it is funded by several liberal organizations, including The Knight Foundation, The Democracy Fund, and the MacArthur Foundation.
Google also claimed that it is taking steps to ensure election security and transparency by flagging phishing attempts. The announcement stated that Google plans to “enforce policies to prohibit content on our platforms that undermines trust in the democratic process, like calls to participate in voter fraud or false claims around the U.S. census or election results.”
In order to achieve the goal of “connecting people to the democratic process,” Youtube, a sister organization of Google, will stream the upcoming Democratic National Committee and Republican National Committee conventions and any upcoming debates, as they have done in the past.
Just like with Facebook, conservatives should use caution when using Google for election information. Google has a history of bias against the right. In the past, Google has blocked NewsBusters and other conservative sites from search results, and Google employees donated $350,000 to Democratic candidates last year. Google critic Dr. Robert Epstein testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee on the Constitution in June of 2019. During his testimony, he stated “In 2016, biased search results generated by Google’s search algorithm likely impacted undecided voters in a way that gave at least 2.6 million votes to Hillary Clinton
“We will continue to ensure that all of our products are built -- and our policies are enforced—in a fair, objective, and nonpartisan way, without regard to political ideology”, said Google’s announcement, and one can only hope that this will be the case moving forward.
Conservatives are under attack. Contact Google at 1-650-253-0000 and demand that the platform provide equal footing for conservatives: Companies need to make equal room for conservative groups to offset this bias. If you have been censored, contact us at the Media Research Center contact form, and help us hold Big Tech accountable.
