US President Donald Trump claimed Tuesday that Google results were “rigged” because searches for “Trump News” brought up negative stories about him, and questioned whether this was illegal.
The president has attacked US social media giants in the past days for allegedly censoring conservative voices, an unfounded claim widely believed by his followers.
“Google search results for ‘Trump News’ shows only the viewing/reporting of Fake New Media,” the president tweeted on Tuesday.
“In other words, they have it RIGGED, for me & others, so that almost all stories & news is BAD. Fake CNN is prominent. Republican/Conservative & Fair Media is shut out. Illegal?”
According to Trump, “96% of results on ‘Trump News’ are from National Left-Wing Media,” which he describes as “very dangerous.”
“Google & others are suppressing voices of Conservatives and hiding information and news that is good. They are controlling what we can & cannot see. This is a very serious situation-will be addressed!”
A Pew Research Center survey released in June found 43 percent of Americans think major technology firms support the views of liberals over conservatives, and 72 percent accepted the idea that social media platforms actively censor opposing political views.
Among Republicans and Republican-leaning independents, 85 percent said they think social media sites intentionally censor political viewpoints, Pew found.
However various studies suggest conservatives are thriving on social media. Twitter and Facebook have both denied bias in policing their platforms.
