Analysis: Republican National Committee

Has there ever been a phonier, more Orwellian corporate motto than the one Google embraced until 2015? “Don’t be evil” was not only a motto, it was a mantra. It used to be in the company’s Code of Conduct, and it used to be a point of pride rather than what it is today: a rimshot.

Ultimately, as Google’s leftism became more naked, more audacious, the motto became untenable, and “Don’t be evil” was replaced by “Do the right thing.”

The right thing, eh? According to whom?

Google is evil. That much we know. It’s an advertising company, and so it lies all the time. Its algorithms are made to lie, subtly, such that conservative search results are routinely suppressed both in its search engine and in its news aggregator. (Trust us. We see it every day.) Earlier this week, our Nate Jackson wrote about the company’s embrace of pornography and its removal of two popular accountability apps that help people beat that relationship-wrecking addiction.

Yes, the Big Tech colossus has long prostituted itself in favor of leftist causes and against conservative ones, but the extent to which this occurs has yet to be fully fathomed. And while we can imagine the Google-ites protesting this characterization, it’s no use. As Winston Churchill might’ve put it: “We’ve already established what you are. Now we’re just haggling about the price.”

Now, in the crucial run-up to the 2022 midterms, we’re learning about Google’s efforts to help rig the election on behalf of Democrats by hiding the Republican National Committee’s fundraising communications. As Fox News reports:

The Republican National Committee says Google is suppressing get-out-the-vote and fundraising emails by sending millions of GOP election emails to users’ Gmail spam folders, with party leadership threatening to explore legal options to “put an end” to what they call a “clear pattern of bias.”

According to RNC officials, emails being sent by the RNC to Republican subscribers who use Gmail accounts in the final days of each month are being sent to spam folders. An RNC official told Fox News Digital that since Sept. 28, Gmail has “suppressed” more than 22 million RNC emails — 358,000 of which were GOTV emails.

Our Emmy Griffin wrote about this issue back in April, and at the time it seemed that the RNC was partly to blame for its failure to adhere to Google’s best practices for email delivery and thereby running afoul of Google’s spam-finding algorithm.

This isn’t that.

Republicans have since cleaned up their act. “Our emails have been suppressed despite concrete changes that have improved overall performance,” an RNC official said, noting that the organization had dutifully updated its segmentation to factor in recency of click, petition signature, and donation. “Despite having a significantly positive impact on performance, this appears to have had absolutely no impact on the timing of this end-of-month spamming.”

“End-of-month spamming,” you ask? This is the kicker: The RNC produced data showing that its emails go from “strong inbox delivery — 90-100%” down to 0% at the end of the month.

Zero percent delivery? What are the odds?

As RNC Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel put it: “We spent the day on the phone with attorneys [Tuesday]. We’re very seriously looking at how we can sue Google. Google controls 53% of the emails in the United States. And they are suppressing right now Republican get-out-the-vote emails ahead of this election. We know this, for the past 10 months, the last four days of every month all of our emails go undeliverable. Zero percent deliverability.”

So there you have it. If you’re inclined to contribute to the RNC’s cause between now and Election Day, you’d best not wait for an email prompt from the RNC.

Google’s reply to these charges was predictably dodgy and mealy-mouthed: “We enable political committees and other organizations to reach their constituents, donors, and key audiences via email,” said Google spokesperson José Castañeda. “When Gmail users say that they don’t want to receive an email, we place the email in the spam folder, politics or political affiliation plays no role in this determination.”

Ah, so during the last four days of every month, just like clockwork, all Republican voters label the RNC emails they’ve just received as spam. Got it.

“Big Tech bias is undermining the democratic process and the RNC is exploring our legal options to put an end to this clear pattern of bias,” said an RNC official. “[Google’s] disproportionate suppression of Republican emails constitutes an illegal corporate contribution to Democrat candidates.”

We agree. So much for Google doing the right thing.