Washington: Tulsi Gabbard, the Democratic presidential candidate and the first Hindu member of the US Congress, has sued Google for at least $50 million for the tech giant’s “discriminatory actions” against her 2020 election campaign and stifling her free speech rights.
Gabbard, 38, an Iraq war veteran who has been serving as the US Representative for Hawaii’s 2nd congressional district since 2013, said in a lawsuit filed on Thursday in a federal court in Los Angeles, that Google infringed on her free speech when it briefly suspended her campaign’s advertising account after the first Democratic debate in June.
Tulsi Now Inc, the campaign committee for Gabbard, said Google suspended the campaign's advertising account for six hours on June 27 and June 28, obstructing its ability to raise money and spread her message to potential voters, The New York Times reported.
“Google’s arbitrary and capricious treatment of Gabbard’s campaign should raise concerns for policy makers about the company’s ability to impact political discourse, in a way that interferes with the upcoming 2020 presidential election,” the lawsuit said.
Google, however, said it had automated systems that flag unusual activity on advertiser accounts to prevent fraud, said Jose Castaneda, a spokesman for the company. “In this case, our system triggered a suspension and the account was reinstated shortly thereafter. We offer ad products that help campaigns connect with voters, and we do so without bias toward any party or political ideology,” he said.
