Sen. Cruz Demands Answers From Google Executive Regarding Censorship

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), member of the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation participated in a hearing today titled, “Examining Safeguards for Consumer Data Privacy.” There, he directed his line of questioning towards Google’s Chief Privacy Officer, Keith Enright, raising concerns of Google’s cooperation to abide by the Chinese government’s censorship rules yet refusing to fulfill a contract with the U.S. government. He then shifted his questioning to focus on American citizens and political affiliations being censored via the search engine’s results. 

“I can tell you millions of Americans, millions of Texans believe that big tech companies are actively censoring the speech of American citizens and are silencing the voices of conservatives,” Sen. Cruz said. “One of the frustrating things about this issue is that there’s almost no transparency. There are almost no public data to assess if that’s accurate or not. So, my question is, is Google analyzing the question? Is Google actually looking--not your own personal experiences in searching--but are you assessing it empirically? Upon what data do you make testimony in this committee that Google is not favoring in its search results one party over another? Or one candidate over another?”

Watch Sen. Cruz’s full line of questioning here. Full transcript below:

Sen. Cruz: Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Welcome to the witnesses.

Mr. Enright, I want to go back to the topic that a couple of other senators raised with you which is China. After a cyberattack compromised the Gmail accounts of dozens of Chinese human rights advocates, Google decided in March of 2010 to shut down its operations in China. At the time Google released a statement that said quote: ‘We want as many people in the world as possible to have access to our services, including users in mainland China, yet the Chinese government has been crystal clear throughout our discussions that self-censorship is a non-negotiable legal requirement.’ Despite taking this principled stand in 2010, it’s been reported last month that Google has been secretly developing a search engine for China as part of a project known as ‘Dragonfly.’ Are those reports accurate? 

Mr. Enright: Senator, thank you for the question. As we’ve said, I am aware of those reports. I need to be clear for the record that my understanding is that we are not close to launching a search product in China. And, whether we eventually could or would remains unclear. 

Sen. Cruz: Is there a Project Dragonfly? And if there is, what is it?

Mr. Enright: We have an array of internal projects. And, I wouldn’t think that it was necessarily appropriate for a privacy conversation to speculate as to what we might be looking at in terms of a product launch in some part of the world.

Sen. Cruz: So, you’re not answering my question then on Project Dragonfly?

Mr. Enright: There is a Project Dragonfly.

Sen. Cruz: And it’s focused on a search engine in China, is that accurate?

Mr. Enright: There is no--we are not close to launching a search engine--

Sen. Cruz: You’re saying you’re not close to launching, but what I’m asking is the topic of Project Dragonfly. Is it a project to develop a search engine in China?

I didn’t ask timing of launch, I asked what it is.

Mr. Enright: Understood. I am not clear on the contours of what is in scope or out of scope for that project. But, I can say that if we were close to launching a search project in China, myself and my team would be very actively engaged to ensure that it was going through the appropriate privacy review process. And, that it was consistent with our privacy values and the commitments that we’ve made to our users. 

Sen. Cruz: In your opinion, does China engage in censoring its citizens? 

Mr. Enright: As the privacy representative for Google, I’m not sure that I have an informed opinion on that question. 

Sen. Cruz: It’s also been reported that more than 3,100 Google employees sent a letter to Google CEO Sundar Pichai earlier this year protesting the company’s work on ‘Project Maven,’ a Pentagon pilot program aimed at speeding up the Department of Defense’s use of artificial intelligence technologies. Likewise, 1,400 Google employees signed a letter last month protesting Google’s plans to create a censored search engine for China. 

Mr. Enright, you have worked at Google since 2011. Does it concern you that more than twice as many employees at Google have protested working with the U.S. military than have protested creating a censored search engine for China?  

Mr. Enright: Senator, I take a great deal of pride in the fact that Google is an organization that allows employees to voice their opinions--including opinions about product strategy, product decisions--right up to the senior most leadership of the organization. As to Project Maven, again my understanding is that there was internal concern raised. Employees were given a voice. There was a significant internal discussion around the project. It ultimately affected the strategic direction of leadership. And, while Google continues to commit to meeting the responsibilities of our initial Maven contract, we’ll continue to work with the United States government, the Department of Defense in certain areas including: cybersecurity, healthcare, and productivity. But, we are focusing on making sure that our collaborations with the government are consistent with our core values.

Sen. Cruz: Let me try it again, because your answer does not answer my question. Does it concern you that more than twice as many Google employees expressed concern about working with the U.S. military as did concern about being complicit in China’s censoring its citizens? 

Mr. Enright: It encourages me that Google is a place where employees are able to voice those kinds of concerns of a project that they want to ensure are consistent with our values. 

Sen. Cruz: Do Google search results as a systemic matter tend to favor one political party over another? 

Mr. Enright: No sir. We build products for everyone. And, in my experience I see no evidence of bias in the way that our products and services operate.

Sen. Cruz: Okay, so you gave a categorical answer, ‘No, they don’t favor one party over the other.’ What is the basis for that answer? Upon what data do you rely? 

Mr. Enright: The basis for that answer Senator, is my own experience and my own understanding of our products. I have not reviewed data, so I’m--

Sen. Cruz: Does Google assess whether it’s search results are biased in favor of one political party or another?

Mr. Enright: My understanding, again as a Privacy Executive for Google, so we’re stepping outside of my core domain here. But, my understanding is that one of the paramount design decisions for our engineering teams in our many products is that we are designing for everyone. 

Sen. Cruz: Mr. Enright, we’re having a problem with answering the question. I asked if Google assesses this question. If you studied--I can tell you millions of Americans, millions of Texans believe that big tech companies are actively censoring the speech of American citizens and are silencing the voices of conservatives. One of the frustrating things about this issue is that there’s almost no transparency. There are almost no public data to assess if that’s accurate or not. So, my question is, is Google analyzing the question? Is Google actually looking--not your own personal experiences in searching--but are you assessing it empirically? Upon what data do you make testimony in this committee that Google is not favoring in its search results one party over another? Or one candidate over another?

Mr. Enright: As the Chief Privacy Officer of Google, this is not within my core domain. So, I can only speak to my own experience and the things that are my responsibility within the organization. But, within my purview I have never seen any evidence of bias. I constantly see a commitment-- 

Sen. Cruz: Okay, I’m going to try just one more time. Are you aware of any efforts of Google to assess whether search results have a political bias? Don’t give me a statement they don't have a bias. Are you aware of efforts to actually empirically assess and determine it?

Mr. Enright: As, Chief Privacy Officer of Google, I am not aware of such efforts. 

Sen. Cruz: Thank you. 

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