Sen. Cruz: The Pattern of Political Bias From YouTube and Google is Massive

WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) chairman of the Senate Committee on the Judiciary's Subcommittee on The Constitution, this week went on The Michael Berry Show to discuss his recent hearing investigating Google's pattern of political bias and censorship.

"The pattern of political bias from YouTube, from Google is massive," Sen. Cruz said. "And I'll tell you Michael, the most stunning testimony was from a psychologist Dr. Epstein, who is not a Republican. He is by his own description a Democrat, a liberal. He was a Hillary Clinton supporter. And he concluded that Google's biased search results swung a minimum of 2.6 million votes to Hillary Clinton in 2016. His testimony in particular was stunning, and I encourage everyone listening to go and watch, and listen to his testimony, because he also said that if it's not addressed, that in 2020 as many as 15 million votes could be swung by Google, and Facebook, and Twitter, and their deceptive censorship online."

Sen. Cruz's interview may be found here.

Several news outlets covered Sen. Cruz's subcommittee hearing. Press coverage may be viewed below.

Breitbart: Ted Cruz Grills Google VP on Breitbart 'Good Censor' Scoop
"Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) held Google's feet to the fire on its murky legal status earlier today, using information from Breitbart News' exclusive publication of "The Good Censor," a leaked internal briefing from Google, to support his line of questioning. Sen. Cruz sent a copy of The Good Censor, which Breitbart News exclusively published last October, to Google ahead of the hearing, where a representative of the tech giant admitted his company had produced the document. The Senator highlighted ‘tech firms are performing a balancing act between two incompatible positions. On the one side, create an ‘Unmediated market of ideas - 100% commit to the American tradition that prioritizes free speech for democracy, not civility, by creating spaces where all values including civility norms are always open to debate.' That's on the one side, according to Google's own assessment. On the other side is ‘create well-ordered spaces for safety and civility - 100% commit to the European tradition, which favors dignity over liberty and civility over freedom, by censoring - and I will note, this is Google's word, censoring - racial and religious hatred even when there's no provocation to violence."

KFOX: (VIDEO) Cruz on Tech Censorship
"Google is finding itself on Capitol Hill talking about censorship and search engines. The company is among other top social media companies being accused of conservative bias and the focus of lawmakers to figure out whether or how these companies should be regulated. Republican Senator Ted Cruz shared this at the hearing: ‘As we have heard time and time again the big defense by Big Tech is, it wasn't me, the algorithm did it.' While issues on the reach of these companies are bipartisan some Democrats disagree with the political bias. ‘Study after study has debunked the suggestion of political bias on the part of Facebook, Google, and Twitter.' This hearing comes after several similar hearings in Washington and comes on the heels of conservative groups calling attention to what they say is proof of bias."

KTRH: Cruz has Google in his sights
"Texas Senator Ted Cruz has Big Tech in his sights once again. Back in April, Cruz led a hearing about how conservatives are treated by Facebook and Twitter. Now he's going after Google. Cruz led another hearing about Google and what they do to conservatives this week. He told Fox News that Google (which owns YouTube) is a monopoly that abuses its power. ‘Google is a monopoly. Google may well be the most powerful company on the face of the planet because they have a monopoly on information, on what you know and what I know. And not only that, but Google owns YouTube, which is the second most popular website on the face of the planet. And the problem is, they use monopoly powers to silence voices they don't like.'"

Washington Examiner: Ted Cruz: Google has 'a staggering amount of power' to shape culture
"‘This is a staggering amount of power to ban speech, manipulate search results, destroy rivals, and shape culture,' Cruz said. Cruz's statement also referred to Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act of 1996, which gives tech companies legal immunity from the content that is published on their platforms He said that tech companies get a perk or subsidy thanks to the law, but that implicit in that law was an agreement from companies like Google that they wouldn't discriminate based on political viewpoint. Cruz said that, when that law was written, it was done so under the assumption that ‘There wouldn't be a conservative internet and a liberal internet: just the internet,' but that bargain is falling apart. ‘The American people are instead subject to both overt censorship and covert manipulation,' Cruz said. "If Big Tech cannot provide us with evidence that it's not playing Big Brother with its immense powers, we don't need to give them a subsidy through Section 230."

KETK: Cruz calls Google a ‘monopoly', criticizes social media for censorship
"Sen. Ted Cruz hurled criticism at Google while previewing a Senate hearing he would chair on Tuesday dealing with censorship by social media. ‘Google is a monopoly. Google may well be the most powerful company on the face of the planet because they have a monopoly on information, on what you know and what I know.' Cruz appeared on ‘Fox and Friends' listing ways he would look to tackle censorship of social media, which conservatives say platforms like Facebook and Twitter are blocking their views. He noted not that accounts are being deleted, but that their posts are being hidden from followers by algorithms under the guise of preventing hate speech. ‘What's happening is the social media sites are censoring, they're shadow banning. If they don't like what you're saying, they just hide what you're saying. That is essentially a fraud on the consumer, and they're deceiving the consumer because they've got a political agenda.'"

Washington Times: Google executive refuses to commit to independent audit during Senate hearing
"The hearing, marked by fiery exchanges between combative lawmakers and the evasive executive, began with a gotcha moment: Chairman Ted Cruz unveiled an internal Google document titled, ‘The Good Censor: How Can Google Reassure the World that It Protects Users from Harmful Content While Supporting Free Speech?' The March 2018 document said tech companies are performing a ‘balancing act between two incompatible positions,' namely ‘an unmediated marketplace of ideas 100 percent commit to the American tradition that prioritizes free speech' and "well-ordered spaces for safety and civility 100 percent commit to the European tradition that favors dignity over liberty.' Mr. Cruz said that the European model had won out on social media platforms, according to the document, which said, ‘Tech firms have gradually shifted away from unmediated free speech and toward censorship and moderation.'"

Wall Street Journal: Tech Giants Draw Fire in Congress
"At a Senate hearing on alleged censorship, Sen. Ted Cruz (R., Texas) accused Google of ‘playing Big Brother' by collecting swaths of data on Americans who use its search engines and controlling public discourse through its dominance of internet search. Mr. Cruz said the tech giant's frequent response-that its results are produced by algorithms-is inadequate. Algorithms are ‘written and maintained by people,' he said. Karan Bhatia, Google's vice president of global government affairs and public policy, told Mr. Cruz the company has built platforms that operate in an apolitical way."

KVII: Google, censorship and accusations of political bias
"Republican Senator Ted Cruz of Texas chaired the hearing. ‘As we've heard time and time again, Big Tech's favorite defense is 'It wasn't me, the algorithm did it',' said Sen. Ted Cruz R-Tex., Chair of the Subcommittee on the Constitution. ‘Google's search engine isn't controlled by a supernatural voice, it's maintained by people.'"

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