Former U.S. President Donald Trump has threatened legal action against Google, accusing the tech giant of manipulating its search results to favor Vice President Kamala Harris. Trump, in a post on his social media platform Truth Social, alleged that Google operates an “illegal” system designed to prioritize negative stories about him while promoting positive coverage of Harris.
Without citing specific laws, Trump vowed that if he wins the 2024 presidential election, he would urge the Department of Justice to prosecute Google for what he called “blatant interference” in the election process. “This is illegal activity,” Trump wrote, adding, “I will request their prosecution, at the maximum levels, when I win the election and become President of the United States!”
Trump’s allegations appear to be linked to a study conducted by the conservative Media Research Center (MRC), which claims that Google’s search algorithm disproportionately favors Harris over Trump. According to the Washington-based USA Today, the MRC study focused on a specific search conducted on September 6, 2024, for “Donald Trump presidential race 2024.” The study found that the “Top Stories” section of Google’s search results displayed seven articles from what the MRC described as left-leaning outlets like The New York Times and Politico before providing a link to Trump’s campaign website.
The study has been covered by conservative outlets such as Fox News and the New York Post, amplifying claims of search bias.
Google has firmly denied these accusations. A spokesperson for the company stated that its search results reflect the constantly changing content on the web and are not manipulated to favor any political candidate. The spokesperson also emphasized that the MRC’s study examined only a single search term on one specific day and pointed out that both Trump and Harris’s campaign websites were listed in the top results.
The dispute highlights ongoing concerns from some conservative groups about perceived bias in Silicon Valley’s tech platforms as the 2024 U.S. presidential election approaches.
