Google Wins Dismissal in RNC Lawsuit Over Gmail Political Bias

Quincy Jon, Tech Times 28 August 2023, 11:08 am

A federal court dismissed the Republican National Committee (RNC) case against Google, alleging political prejudice in Gmail spam filters. According to the lawsuit, Google purposefully flagged multiple RNC emails as spam, causing alleged donation losses.

The RNC's allegations cited research that claimed Gmail was more likely than other mail systems to classify Republican communications as spam, according to Engadget. The RNC requested compensation for the donations it said were lost due to these activities. The research's conclusions were later challenged for being arbitrarily picked to back up the RNC's viewpoint.

Despite stating that the case was "close," US District Court Judge Daniel Calabretta concluded that the RNC had not provided enough convincing proof of Google's spam filtering being used in bad faith. Google disagreed, saying that user complaints probably had a part in emails being marked as spam. They also mentioned RNC domain authentication issues and frequent mailouts as probable filtering factors.

RNC Lacked Evidence Against Google

The court argued that Google's designation of the Republican emails as spam was protected by Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act and that they might be categorized as "objectionable" content under the term in the CAN-SPAM Act, The Verge reported. The court judge found that Google's move was legal, even though he gave the RNC a limited chance to modify the case to show a "lack of good faith" on Google's behalf.

Google launched a test program that allows candidate emails to go through spam filters in response to complaints, and federal authorities approved it. The RNC persisted in suing Google, alleging it was "discriminating" against email communications with certain political viewpoints. While still fighting the complaint in court, Google ended the experimental program.

RNC Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel said that the RNC intends to resubmit an updated lawsuit and that the matter has yet to be dismissed.

Google Welcomes Court Decision

Meanwhile, José Castañeda, a spokesman for Google, applauded the court's decision that the claims against Gmail over its purported political bias were unfounded. Castañeda mentioned Google's dedication to spam-filtering technologies.

"We will continue investing in spam-filtering technologies that protect people from unwanted emails while still allowing senders to reach the inboxes of users who want their messages," he said, as quoted by The Washington Post.

Separately, the Federal Election Commission (FEC) dismissed a specific complaint brought by Republican campaign organizations against Google earlier this year, adding even another dimension to the continuing investigation into the internet giants' possible political bias.