The Federal Election Commission has dismissed a complaint by the Republican National Committee that alleged Google’s Gmail service was biased against conservatives, according to multiple reports.
In its April complaint, the RNC alleged that Google was illegally helping Democratic campaigns by directing Republican fundraising emails into users’ spam folders.
To make the argument, RNC lawyers cited a study out of North Carolina State University that they claim shows evidence of anti-conservative discrimination by Gmail. A slight problem, though: Even the study’s authors have said Republicans are misrepresenting their work. And reports, like this one published in Mashable last May, suggest the RNC’s email woes are likely the result of poorly crafted fundraising emails, not bias. (Check out some of my previous blogs on the saga here.)
Google, for the record, has denied the claims of bias. They even set up an end-around tool to help the RNC evade spam filters, but The Verge reported that, as of October, the RNC hadn’t used it.
The FEC’s ruling is another crack in the GOP’s facade of victimhood.
In a letter last week, the FEC told Google that it had found the RNC’s complaint to be baseless, hopefully bringing an end to this ridiculous GOP tantrum.
The commission “found no reason to believe that Google, LLC, made prohibited in-kind corporate contributions” to Democrats, the letter said. In an accompanying factual and legal analysis, the FEC said Google had “credibly supported its claim that its spam filter is in place for commercial reasons and thus did not constitute a contribution within the meaning of the [Federal Election Campaign Act].”
Let’s put this complaint in its proper context, though: It fits with conservatives’ nonsensical claims that Big Tech is biased against them, despite the fact we’ve seen clear evidence to the contrary. The FEC’s ruling is another crack in the GOP’s facade of victimhood.
Republicans may feel oppressed by Gmail or any other number of tech giants, but the purported “facts over feelings” party is going to have to get over it.