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FIRST ON FOX: Google admitted that autocomplete search results regarding the assassination attempt against former President Trump last month were prohibited by design and part of the company’s policy for “hypothetical political violence against current figures.”
FOX Business reported exclusively in July that Sen. Roger Marshall, R-Kan., was launching an investigation into Google after its autocomplete search results did not register the assassination attempt against Trump on July 13, which was dominating the news. He questioned the company in a letter over the search function, asking about its algorithm and what decisions were made in the aftermath of the attack on Trump.
In its response to the senator, Google Vice President of Government Affairs and Public Policy, US and Canada Mark Isakowitz listed the policies that guide the autocomplete function.
“We do not allow predictions that can be interpreted as accusations against individuals or groups of serious malevolent acts, where there is a lack of well-established or expert supporting evidence,” he said.
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Sen. Roger Marshall demanded Google’s top executives to testify under oath before the Senate’s Homeland Security committee. (Getty Images)
Since the day after the shooting in Butler, Pennsylvania, which left Trump’s ear wounded and bloodied, as well as a spectator dead and two others critically injured, the Federal Bureau of Investigation has been probing the incident as an assassination attempt and potential domestic terrorism.
However, Marshall told Fox News Digital in a statement on Wednesday that Google’s search autocomplete function was still omitting Trump assassination attempt results as of his public inquiry to the company on July 28.
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“Google is now openly admitting that they were blocking and eliminating search prompts regarding the assassination attempt on President Trump,” the senator told Fox News Digital in an exclusive statement. “Most shocking is their bizarre written defense that Trump’s assassination attempt was a ‘hypothetical act of political violence’ even up to the point of our public inquiry on July 28th.”
The company explained in its letter to him, “In the immediate aftermath of the horrific events in Butler, PA, these systems were still in place and predictions related to the assassination attempt failed to appear. We recognize that these out-of-date systems led to an inadequate user experience.”
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Google admitted that autocomplete search results regarding the assassination attempt against former President Trump last month were prohibited by design and part of the company’s policy for “hypothetical political violence against current figures.” (Photo by Thilina Kaluthotage/NurPhoto via Getty Images / Getty Images)
Per Isakowitz, when the issues were alerted to Google, they started working on and rolling out improvements.
For Marshall, this wasn’t good enough. He further eviscerated the company, calling it “a monopolistic agent of propaganda for the globalist Left.”
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Republican presidential candidate former President Trump is rushed offstage during a rally on July 13, 2024 in Butler, Pennsylvania. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images / Getty Images)
“In response to this letter, I am demanding that Google’s top executives testify under oath before the Senate Homeland Security & Governmental Affairs Committee,” the Kansas senator said. “Under oath, they won’t be able to hide behind an algorithm or get away with corporate double-speak.”
According to Marshall, the committee is “launching a full investigation into Google’s litany of offenses.” He added that it is “time for accountability and consequence.”
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Google did not provide comment to Fox Business in time for publication.
While the Republicans are currently in the minority on the committee, if they re-take the majority in November against Democrats who face an unfavorable re-election map, they could be in a position to spearhead a more in-depth investigation into Google.