Conservative strategy firm Targeted Victory claims it has caught Google flagging Republican fundraising emails as “dangerous” spam while leaving similar Democratic solicitations unaffected.
The New York Post reports that a recent memo from consulting firm Targeted Victory has revealed that Google’s Gmail service has been flagging Republican fundraising emails as spam, often sending them directly to users’ spam folders. The memo, obtained exclusively by the Post, suggests that this issue has been ongoing throughout the summer months of June and July.
Targeted Victory, whose clients include prominent Republican figures such as Rep. Steve Scalise (R-LA) and Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), as well as the National Republican Senatorial Committee, conducted tests to investigate the issue. The tests involved sending identical emails through Gmail, with the only difference being the inclusion of either a WinRed donation link (a Republican fundraising platform) or an ActBlue link (a Democratic fundraising platform). The results showed that emails containing WinRed links were consistently flagged as suspicious or dangerous, while those with ActBlue links were delivered without issue.
Targeted Victory posted a YouTube video demonstrating Google’s bias in action:
This revelation has reignited allegations of political bias against Google, which has faced similar accusations in the past. In 2022, a study by researchers at North Carolina State University found that Gmail flagged 59% more Republican fundraising emails as spam compared to Democratic ones during the 2020 presidential election campaign.
Breitbart News previously reported that Republicans have called on the FTC to investigate Google’s suppression of conservative campaign emails:
“In recent election cycles, the national party committees had a substantial number of the emails we send to our supporters routed to the recipients’ spam folders where they are never viewed,” the letter said. “This problem is particularly evident when the committees attempt to send emails to users of Google’s Gmail service, which routinely delivers fewer emails to inboxes than do other email service providers.”
“These emails are not spam; the committees that we lead only send emails to individuals who have voluntarily opted in to receive emails from us, and we respect every opt-out request that we receive,” the letter added. The letter further stressed that party members should be able to communicate with their supporters via email without having their messages sent to spam folders. The letter also charged that suppressing those email messages also hurts the party’s ability to fundraise. “The cost of Google’s suppression should therefore be calculated not only in dollars never raised, but in votes never cast,” the letter said.
Google has denied any wrongdoing, with spokesperson José Castañeda stating that the company’s email filter protections are in place to keep users safe and are applied equally to all senders, regardless of political ideology. However, critics, including President Donald Trump and Tesla CEO Elon Musk, have accused the tech giant of manipulating search results and suppressing information to favor Democrats.
Targeted Victory initially informed Google about the issue on June 30 after receiving complaints from its clients. The company claims that Google initially deflected responsibility by blaming local settings for the email issues. However, after weeks of communication, Google’s support team acknowledged that links to WinRed were indeed being deemed “suspicious” and flagged with a red warning banner.
The memo from Targeted Victory emphasizes the potential impact of this issue on political campaigns, stating, “If Gmail is allowed to quietly suppress WinRed links while giving ActBlue a free pass, it will continue to tilt the playing field in ways that voters never see, but campaigns will feel every single day.”
Read more at the New York Post here.
Lucas Nolan is a reporter for Breitbart News covering issues of free speech and online censorship.
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