Trump: Google rigs searches
US president warns other tech firms they ‘better be careful’ too
WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump is accusing Google and other US tech companies of rigging search results about him “so that almost all stories & news is BAD” – and though he is offering no evidence, a top adviser says the White House is “taking a look” at whether Google should face federal regulation.
Google is pushing back sharply, saying Trump’s claim simply wasn’t true: “We never rank search results to manipulate political sentiment.”
The president’s tweets on Tuesday echoed his familiar attacks on the news media – and a conservative talking point that California-based tech companies run by CEOs with liberal leanings don’t give equal weight to opposing political viewpoints. They also revealed anew his deep-seated frustration over not getting the credit he believes he deserves.
The president, who has said he runs on little sleep, jumped onto Twitter before dawn Tuesday to rehash his recent complaints about alleged suppression of conservative voices and positive news about him.
He followed that up with vague threats in Oval Office comments.
“I think Google has taken advantage of a lot of people, and I think that’s a serious thing. That’s a very serious charge,” Trump said, adding that Google, Twitter, Facebook and others “better be careful”.
Trump claimed that “we have literally thousands and thousands of complaints coming in. So I think that Google and Twitter and Facebook, they’re really treading on very, very troubled territory and they have to be careful”.
Larry Kudlow, the president’s top economic adviser, said later that the White House is “taking a look” at whether Google searches should be subject to government regulation.
In his tweets, Trump said – without offering evidence – that “Google search results for ‘Trump News’ shows only the viewing/reporting of Fake New Media. 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?” — AP