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Commentary: How to Restrain Big Tech Immediately

October 29, 2020October 28, 2020 Minnesota Sun Staff

A year ago, University of Georgia professor Cas Mudde took to Twitter and asked: “How do you manage to stay informed about political news and stay mentally balanced?” In his next tweet, he confessed too much time on social media was contributing to anxiety and depression.

With this, Mudde expressed a sentiment many social media users share. As we discuss policy issues tied to social media—tech regulation, free speech, foreign influence—we shouldn’t lose sight of the damaging psychological effects of today’s information environment. You may not want to hear this a week before the election, but social media addiction is a public health issue. Big Tech is the new Big Tobacco.

Social Media CEOs Get Earful on Bias, Warning of New Limits

October 29, 2020October 28, 2020 The Associated Press

With next week’s election looming, the CEOs of Twitter, Facebook and Google were scolded by Republicans at a Senate hearing Wednesday for alleged anti-conservative bias in the companies’ social media platforms and received a warning of coming restrictions from Congress.

Lawmakers of both parties are assessing the companies’ tremendous power to disseminate speech and ideas, and are looking to challenge their long-enjoyed bedrock legal protections for online speech.

Justice Dept. Files Landmark Antitrust Case Against Google

October 21, 2020October 20, 2020 The Associated Press

The Justice Department on Tuesday sued Google for antitrust violations, alleging that it abused its dominance in online search and advertising to stifle competition and harm consumers.

The lawsuit marks the government’s most significant attempt to protect competition since its groundbreaking case against Microsoft more than 20 years ago. It could be an opening salvo ahead of other major government antitrust actions, given ongoing investigations of major tech companies including Apple, Amazon and Facebook at both the Justice Department and the Federal Trade Commission.

Judson Phillips Commentary: Big Tech Stomps on Free Speech

October 16, 2020October 15, 2020 Minnesota Sun Staff

On Wednesday morning, the Star published my commentary on free speech. Little did I know when I wrote it or the editors when they published it, the whole concept of free speech online was about to blow up in an incredibly spectacular way.

‘Oil Barons and Railroad Tycoons’: Big Tech Must Be Restructured, House Report Says

October 8, 2020October 7, 2020 Minnesota Sun Staff

Amazon, Apple, Facebook and Google have abused their monopoly power and must undergo significant restructuring, according to a House report released Tuesday.

Lawmakers who wrote the report said the four tech companies had grown into monopolies akin to “oil barons and railroad tycoons” and suggested an overhaul to U.S. antitrust laws, according to The New York Times. The lengthy report, spearheaded by Democratic Reps. Jerrold Nadler and David Cicilline, is the result of a 15-month House Judiciary Committee investigation into the companies collectively known as Big Tech.

More Than Half of American Voters Support Breaking up Big Tech Companies, a New Poll Finds

September 19, 2020September 18, 2020 Minnesota Sun Staff

More than half of American voters strongly or somewhat support breaking up Silicon Valley tech giants to promote competition, according to a poll published Thursday.

Only 26% of voters oppose or strongly oppose splitting up the country’s largest tech companies, while 19% of those surveyed didn’t offer a view, a poll from progressive think tank Data for Progress showed. The poll, which surveyed 1,200 likely voters in September, comes as the House lawmakers conclude their nearly yearlong probe into the industry’s supposed anticompetitive behavior.

Google Removes Autocomplete for Candidates and Voting

September 14, 2020September 13, 2020 Minnesota Sun Staff

Ahead of the U.S. presidential election Google said that it will now remove any autocomplete predictions that seem to endorse or oppose a candidate or a political party and claims about voting or the electoral process, according to a CNN report.

Google executives outlined these changes at an online press event Thursday, as well as in a blog post. Google’s autocomplete feature offers recommendations for queries once a user begins typing.

Virginia First to Roll Out Pandemic App from Apple, Google

August 7, 2020August 6, 2020 The Associated Press

Virginia has rolled out a smartphone app to automatically notify people if they might have been exposed to the coronavirus, becoming the first U.S. state to use new pandemic technology created by Apple and Google.

But hopes for a nationwide app that can work seamlessly across state borders remain unrealized, and there are no known federal plans to create one. State officials say their new app won’t work as well outside Virginia, at least until a group of coordinating public health agencies gets a national server up and running and other states join in.

Google Deliberately Alters Search Results for Breitbart News

July 30, 2020July 29, 2020 Minnesota Sun Staff

As the 2020 election draws nearer, search engine and tech giant Google is being exposed as engaging in election interference by artificially altering search results to negatively impact right-wing sites, as reported by Breitbart.

Breitbart reports that its own visibility on Google search results has been reduced by as much as 99.7 percent of its previous performance since the 2016 election. In contrast to its performance in April of 2016, when it was among the top ten search results for 355 key search terms, it now ranks in the top ten of only one such search term in the month of July of this year.

Google Selects Mississippi Site for First US Operations Center

July 13, 2020July 12, 2020 The Associated Press

Google’s first U.S. operations center is coming to northwest Mississippi.

The company announced Thursday it will lease a new 60,000-square-foot (5,574 square-meter) facility in Southaven, Mississippi, near Memphis, Tennessee. Google expects the site, which will provide customer and operations support to customers worldwide, to be operational by summer 2021.

Dave Yost Seeks Public’s Input on Whether Google Uses ‘Deceptive Sales Practices’

July 6, 2020July 5, 2020 Anthony Gockowski

Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost said he wants the public to weigh in on the question of whether internet search engines should be “allowed to favor their own products and services in search results.”

ANALYSIS: DOJ Investigators Involved in Antitrust Probe Don’t Appear to be Scrutinizing Claims of Bias in Google’s Search

June 23, 2020 Minnesota Sun Staff

by Peter Hasson and Chris White Department of Justice investigators who are conducting an antitrust probe targeting Google do not appear to be scrutinizing claims that the tech giant manipulates its search function, leaks about the probe and a source familiar with it indicate. Google critics argue that Google…

Massive Plot Stole Data from Google Users Who Downloaded Free Add-Ons to Chrome Web Browsers: Report

June 21, 2020June 20, 2020 Minnesota Sun Staff

A massive spyware effort targeted users of Google’s Chrome web browser extensions downloaded tens of millions of times, Reuters reported Thursday.

The people responsible for the spyware attacked users through 32 million downloads of extensions to Google’s web browser, and collected browsing history and other user data, researchers at Awake Security told Reuters. Google removed more than 70 malicious extensions after researchers alerted the company of the attack in May, the company said.

Hawley Announces Bill Targeting Bad-Acting Tech Companies Hours After Google, NBC Demonetization Dispute Over the Federalist

June 18, 2020June 17, 2020 Minnesota Sun Staff

Republican Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley announced Wednesday that he is introducing a bill aimed at fighting bad-acting tech companies hours after Google threatened a conservative publication with demonetization.

The Limiting Section 230 Immunity to Good Samaritans Act, cosponsored by Republican Sens. Marco Rubio of Florida, Mike Braun of Indiana and Tom Cotton of Arkansas, would prevent big tech companies from receiving Section 230 immunities unless the companies updated their terms of service, promised to operate in good faith and promised to pay a $5,000 fine if they violated their promise.

Google Bans Ads on the Federalist After NBC News Raises Concerns About George Floyd Protest Articles

June 17, 2020June 16, 2020 Minnesota Sun Staff

Google is planning to ban The Federalist and Zero Hedge from its ad platform, Google Ads, after NBC News raised concerns to the tech giant about articles that the conservative websites published regarding rioting and looting that occurred alongside the protests over the death of George Floyd.

According to the NBC report, Google notified The Federalist that it will block the site from using Google Ads because of concerns raised over an article related to the protests over Floyd’s death.

Censorship, Antitrust Probes: Big Tech Is Back to Fighting Familiar Foes After Taking on Coronavirus

June 8, 2020June 7, 2020 Minnesota Sun Staff

Amazon, Twitter, and other major tech companies are facing intense criticism on antitrust issues and censorship claims in the months since government officials reportedly began asking for help from Silicon Valley on ways to tackle the coronavirus pandemic.

The president and lawmakers have turned their sights on Twitter and Amazon, respectively, while Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and other attorneys general are reportedly ratcheting up their antitrust investigation targeting Google’s business model. The White House asked them in March to fight coronavirus disinformation while also assisting the government in its virus response.

Commentary: Trump Executive Order Strikes at the Heart of Social Media’s Leftist Censorship

May 30, 2020May 29, 2020 Minnesota Sun Staff

President Trump’s long-hoped-for Executive Order on social media censorship is a good first step in dismantling the Left’s dangerous influence over these 21st-century communications vehicles. (You can read the draft that was available online when this article was posted through this link to The National Pulse, edited by Raheem Kassam.)

We particularly agree with this part of the EO’s statement of principles, “In a country that has long cherished the freedom of expression, we cannot allow a limited number of online platforms to hand-pick the speech that Americans may access and convey online. This practice is fundamentally un-American and anti-democratic. When large, powerful social media companies censor opinions with which they disagree, they exercise a dangerous power.”

President Trump Reportedly Considering Forming Panel to Review Anti-Conservative Bias in Big Tech

May 25, 2020May 24, 2020 Minnesota Sun Staff

President Donald Trump is considering forming a commission to review anti-conservative bias on social media platforms, The Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with the idea.

A potential White House-created commission would examine allegations of online bias and censorship, according to the report. The administration will also encourage the Federal Communications Commission and the Federal Election Commission to conduct similar reviews, the sources told the WSJ.

Google Employees Blame Conservative Backlash for Canceled Racial Justice Program

May 16, 2020May 15, 2020 Minnesota Sun Staff

Google acknowledged nixing an internal racial justice program Wednesday, and some employees believe the company did it fearing lawsuits from “right-wing employees,” according to an NBC News report.

The company ended Sojourn in 2019, claiming the program designed to teach about racial injustice was too difficult to expand beyond the United States, NBC News reported Wednesday. Current and former employees, however, told NBC the program ended because Google feared backlash in the wake of former software engineer James Damore’s 2018 lawsuit that accused the company of ideological discrimination.

Commentary: Big Tech, Privacy, and Power

April 27, 2020April 26, 2020 Minnesota Sun Staff

The ground is shifting quickly beneath our feet when it comes to tech, privacy, and power. And, although tech companies, their advocates, and even some policymakers, would like us to imagine these issues are cut and dried, they are not.

In their book The Sovereign Individual, published on the eve of the year 2000, James Dale Davidson and William Rees-Mogg attempt to grapple with the forthcoming technological changes that the new millennium inevitably would bring. “As technology revolutionizes the tools we use,” they wrote, “it also antiquates our laws, reshapes our morals, and alters our perceptions.”

This is the dynamic that has been unfolding slowly over the last 20 years, as Google, Facebook, Twitter, and other social media platforms have transformed how we engage with communications, culture, commerce, and one another.

Commentary: Big Tech’s Toadying to Chinese Communists Demands Action

April 13, 2020April 12, 2020 Minnesota Sun Staff

As the world grapples with the coronavirus pandemic, China has become infamous for its role in allowing the virus to spread. From misleading the World Health Organization about the virus’s contagious elements, restricting the access of global investigators to infected sites, and lying about their infection numbers, China single-handedly stole months of preparation from other countries that have been savaged by the disease.

China has also hoarded masks and personal protective equipment from desperate countries and threatened to withhold critical medicines relied upon by millions of Americans.

Attorneys General Give Conflicting Views on Future of Antitrust Probe Targeting Google as States Respond to Virus Spread

April 7, 2020April 6, 2020 Minnesota Sun Staff

The attorneys general who are involved in an antitrust investigation targeting Google are weighing whether to press the accelerator on the probe or focus resources on the coronavirus response.

Google is doing everything it can to protect not only its employees, but also Americans, Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry told the Daily Caller News Foundation. He is referring to what he said was the company’s work to help the Trump administration on the virus response.

Landry is one of the 33 attorneys general who is helping to spearhead the probe.

Silicon Valley Moved from Pariah to a Trump Ally in Less Than a Month

April 1, 2020March 31, 2020 Minnesota Sun Staff

Big tech companies began the Trump era as a foil to the president amid concerns the companies are politically biased, but many of them are becoming crucial cogs in the president’s virus response.

Sen. Hawley Spearheads Bipartisan Push to Prod DOJ into Investigating Google’s Search Operations

March 16, 2020May 21, 2020 Minnesota Sun Staff

Sens. Josh Hawley and Richard Blumenthal called on the Department of Justice to train its antitrust probe on Google’s search operations, which some say fuels the tech giant’s alleged anticompetitive practices.

Google-Funded Think Tank Chief Resigns After Wishing Coronavirus Would Kill Trump

March 15, 2020March 14, 2020 Minnesota Sun Staff

The head of a Google-funded think tank is resigning after suggesting to his Twitter followers that he would like to see President Donald Trump die from coronavirus, Politico reported Friday.

‘Stonewall, Deflect and Deny’: Sen Hawley Says Google Is Resorting to Old Tricks As Attorneys General Turn Up the Heat

February 23, 2020February 22, 2020 Minnesota Sun Staff

Sen. Josh Hawley lambasted Google on Friday for reportedly stonewalling state attorneys general as they attempt to investigate the company for supposedly engaging in anticompetitive practices.

Report: DOJ Turns Up The Heat on Google, Will Investigate Tech Giant’s Ad Tools

February 6, 2020February 11, 2020 Minnesota Sun Staff

The Department of Justice is reaching out to some of Google’s largest rivals to determine how the tech giant’s advertising business model is impacting the industry, The Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday.

Apple’s Digital Assistant Siri Told Users Israel’s Reuvin Rivlin Was the ‘President of the Zionist Occupation State’

January 20, 2020January 19, 2020 Minnesota Sun Staff

by Chris White Apple’s voice-controlled assistant told the big tech company’s customers Saturday night that Israel President Reuvin Rivlin is the leader of the Zionist occupation state.” Someone changed Rivlin’s Wikipedia page to describe Israel’s president as the “main child of Israel,” Israel’s i24 News reported Saturday. Apple and Google often rely…

Commentary: The Tricky Ethics of Google’s Project Nightingale

January 1, 2020December 31, 2019 Minnesota Sun Staff

The nation’s second-largest health system, Ascension, has agreed to allow the software behemoth Google access to tens of millions of patient records. The partnership, called Project Nightingale, aims to improve how information is used for patient care. Specifically, Ascension and Google are trying to build tools, including artificial intelligence and machine learning, “to make health records more useful, more accessible and more searchable” for doctors.

Commentary: Big Tech Censorship Enters Dangerous New Phase

December 28, 2019December 30, 2019 Minnesota Sun Staff

Do non-conforming voices have a prayer against Silicon Valley in November’s critical election? Before the cycle even begins, disturbing new developments show how conservatives and others already may have been marginalized by Big Tech behemoths.

Google Co-Founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin Step Down

December 5, 2019December 4, 2019 Minnesota Sun Staff

Google co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin announced Tuesday they are stepping down from roles at the tech giant’s parent company.

REPORT: Google Is Working on Secret Project to Collect Personal Health Data on Millions of Americans

November 12, 2019November 11, 2019 Minnesota Sun Staff

Google is reportedly partnering with the second-largest health care system in the U.S. in an effort to collect health data on millions of Americans, according to people familiar with the matter.

Report: Google Considers Political Ad Policy Change as Democrats Worry About Potential Backlash

November 9, 2019November 8, 2019 Minnesota Sun Staff

Google and Facebook are reportedly considering a change to their political ad policies that would alter micro-targeting, a form of advertising that allows organizations to tailor advertisements for specific groups.

Google Agrees to Buy Fitbit for About $2.1 Billion

November 3, 2019November 2, 2019 Minnesota Sun Staff

Google has agreed to purchase fitness watchmaker Fitbit for about $2.1 billion, the activity-tracking company announced in a Friday press release.

Bipartisan Lawmakers Want Google’s Internal Emails, Along With Exec’s Private Communication

September 14, 2019September 13, 2019 Minnesota Sun Staff

Lawmakers are calling on Google, Facebook and other social media companies to turn over memos related to their business interests as Congress applies more pressure on big tech, The Washington Post reported Friday.

Commentary: Yes, Google Is Trying to Control the 2020 Election

August 16, 2019August 15, 2019 Minnesota Sun Staff

Our friend James O’Keefe and his team at Project Veritas have produced another bombshell Silicon Valley expose, this time with the help of Google whistleblower Zachary Vorhies.

More Than 600 Google Employees Won’t Be ‘Complicit’ in Working With CBP

August 16, 2019August 15, 2019 Minnesota Sun Staff

More than 600 Google employees said they “refuse” to be “complicit” in potential cloud computing work for Customs and Border Protection (CBP), according to a petition.

Employee Accuses Google of Discriminating Against Pregnant Women

August 11, 2019August 10, 2019 Minnesota Sun Staff

A former Google employee alleges that the tech giant discriminates against pregnant women. The woman made the accusation in a memo obtained by Motherboard.

Trump Lays Into Google’s CEO After Reports Suggest Company Wants to Thwart His Reelection

August 7, 2019August 6, 2019 Minnesota Sun Staff

President Donald Trump dinged Google CEO Sundar Pichai Tuesday after a company insider claimed the tech giant is preparing to foil the president’s reelection bid.

Commentary: Google’s Algorithms Threaten Free and Fair Elections

July 29, 2019July 28, 2019 Minnesota Sun Staff

In the wake of the dumpster fire that was the Mueller hearings this week, Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s reputation was left in ashes, the Democrats are covered in soot, and the Russian collusion fairytale is toast. The Democrats’ impeachment hopes are also dead, whether they choose to believe it or not. But the question of election meddling remains very much a vital topic of discussion, just not in the way Democrats and the leftist corporate media would like.

Tulsi Gabbard Sues Google

July 26, 2019January 2, 2020 Minnesota Sun Staff

2020 Democratic presidential candidate Tulsi Gabbard is suing Google over allegations that the tech giant violated her right to free speech.

Commentary: The Banality of Google’s Wokeness

July 23, 2019July 22, 2019 Minnesota Sun Staff

by Emina Melonic Although many people don’t see it or refuse to acknowledge it, we are living in a mangled version of Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World and George Orwell’s 1984. There are technological and morally dubious (at best!) forces that control the flow of information we see and can release into the…

Ted Cruz Presses Executive on Why Google Disbanded Panel Rather Than Include Conservative Leader

July 19, 2019July 18, 2019 Minnesota Sun Staff

by Rachel del Guidice Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, called out a Google vice president Tuesday afternoon for the tech giant’s decision to dissolve an advisory council on artificial intelligence after inviting Heritage Foundation President Kay Coles James to join the panel. Cruz asked Karan Bhatia, Google’s vice president of…

Peter Thiel Blasts ‘Treasonous’ Google For Choosing China Over US Military

July 16, 2019July 15, 2019 Minnesota Sun Staff

by Whitney Tipton Tech billionaire Peter Thiel said Sunday that the FBI and CIA should investigate Google for allegedly cooperating with the Chinese military over U.S. interests. Thiel, one of the most high-profile Trump supporters in the tech industry, criticized Google’s work with the Chinese during a speech to the…

Senators Cruz and Hawley Urge FTC to Open Investigation Into Big Tech’s Censorship Practices

July 16, 2019July 15, 2019 Minnesota Sun Staff

by Chris White Two of the country’s staunchest big tech critics are asking the Federal Trade Commission to investigate social media companies’ perceived censorship practices. Facebook, Google and Twitter exercise lots of influence on Americans and they also use their tools to censor some content while amplifying others, Sens.…

Commentary: ‘High-Skilled Immigrants Act’ Is a Sop to Big Tech

July 15, 2019July 14, 2019 Minnesota Sun Staff

by Rachael Brovard In a rare moment of bipartisanship last week, Democrats and Republicans joined hands to make a small, but fundamental change to our immigration system. Not to provide critically needed updates or wholesale reforms, but, rather, to toss a sop to the billionaires of Big Tech. Thanks…

Facebook’s Recent Algorithm Changes Are Laying Waste to Conservative and Liberal Outlets

July 15, 2019July 14, 2019 Admin

by Chris White Facebook recently changed its algorithms to steer focus away from explicitly political content, but now that alteration is laying waste to conservative and liberal outlets. Conservative pundit Deneen Borelli laid into Facebook last week, telling her followers on July 9 that the company’s bias against conservatives…

Here Are the Conservative Groups Google Is Paying to Brush Back Sen. Hawley

July 4, 2019July 3, 2019 Minnesota Sun Staff

by Chris White Google is plowing money into the coffers of several conservative groups who are criticizing Sen. Josh Hawley as the Missouri Republican continues crusading against the Silicon Valley giant. The big tech company provides “substantial contributions” to groups like R-Street, the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), TechFreedom, the…

Commentary: Google Teaching Artificial Intelligence to Attack Conservatives

June 26, 2019June 25, 2019 Minnesota Sun Staff

by George Rasley Fans of the Terminator series of science fiction action movies will recall that the Terminators were the product of an Artificial Intelligence defense system that turned against humans and decided to wipe out its creators. But what if Skynet had been programmed so that it only…

Google Exec Responds to Project Veritas Undercover Video, Says She Was Tricked

June 26, 2019June 25, 2019 Minnesota Sun Staff

by Chris White A Google executive said Monday night that an undercover video of her discussing what the company plans to do about the “next Trump situation” was deceptively edited. Project Veritas caught veteran Google employee Jen Gennai in a video appearing to suggest that her company is working…