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- Democratic presidential candidate Tulsi Gabbard is suing Google after the company temporarily suspended her campaign from advertising on the site in late June.
- The New York Times reported that Gabbard has filed a federal lawsuit against Google, after the tech giant shut down her campaigns ability to run advertisements for six hours between June 27th and June 28th.
- The presidential hopeful and her campaign are seeking an injunction against Google for further interference in the election, as well as at least $50 million in damages, according to the lawsuit.
- On Thursday, a Google spokesperson told Business Insider: "We are proud to offer ad products that help campaigns connect directly with voters, and we do so without bias toward any party or political ideology."
- Visit Business Insider’s homepage for more stories.
Democratic presidential candidate Tulsi Gabbard is suing Google after the company temporarily suspended her campaign from advertising in late June, in what the Representative from Hawaii claims is a threat to free speech and a fair election process.
The New York Times reported that Gabbard has filed a federal lawsuit against Google, after the tech giant shut down her campaign’s ability to run advertisements for six hours between June 27th and June 28th. On the night before, June 26th, Gabbard had participated in the first of two Democratic debates in Miami and shortly after, her name became widely searched on Google.
In an email reviewed by The Times which announced the account’s reinstatement, the company said it had temporarily suspended Gabbard’s account to verify billing information and to review for possible compliance violations.
Gabbard’s campaign said in the lawsuit that Google has yet to provide a "straight answer" to explain the shutdown. The lawsuit also claims that Gabbard campaign emails were landing in supporters’ spam boxes at a "disproportionately high rate" compared to her other Democratic competitors.
The presidential hopeful and her campaign are seeking an injunction against Google for further interference in the election, as well as at least $50 million in damages, according to the lawsuit.
On Thursday, Google told Business Insider that Gabbard’s account had "triggered a suspension" but that "the account was reinstated shortly thereafter."
"We have automated systems that flag unusual activity on all advertiser accounts information including large spending changes information in order to prevent fraud and protect our customers," a Google spokesperson said. "In this case, our system triggered a suspension and the account was reinstated shortly thereafter. We are proud to offer ad products that help campaigns connect directly with voters, and we do so without bias toward any party or political ideology."
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Source: Business Insider – nbastone@businessinsider.com (Nick Bastone)