Under scrutiny since the 2016 presidential election, companies running social media outlets have been on the defensive and denying accusations of personal political bias at the upper levels of management that might affect the company’s decisions. Breitbart recently obtained video of Google executives discussing the election of Donald Trump as president the day after the election that has raised many eyebrows:
Wow. Someone leaked @LibertarianBlue internal video of Google executives reacting to Trump’s election
Watch->>>https://t.co/HeM8iDr2Qa
— Charlie Spiering (@charliespiering) September 12, 2018
It’s not just that the Google execs in the video are sad/angry about the election results – they begin to brainstorm ideas to leverage their platform to stop it from happening again https://t.co/GOLC6FSXvi
— Charlie Spiering (@charliespiering) September 12, 2018
#googletape pic.twitter.com/UIoSWDOHGv
— Breitbart News (@BreitbartNews) September 12, 2018
Breitbart publishes leaked video from 2016 Google meeting showing top execs expressing disappointment about Trump's win https://t.co/VK4GKPDbDE
— Bloomberg Politics (@bpolitics) September 12, 2018
Google has responded to that video, not by denying anything, but rather by trying to explain what it shows:
Here’s Google’s statement on that video Breitbart got its hands on pic.twitter.com/Sw5TTukJYw
— John Paczkowski (@JohnPaczkowski) September 12, 2018
Google’s statement: “Nothing was said at that meeting, or any other meeting, to suggest that any political bias ever influences the way we build or operate our products.” https://t.co/Lb1RSa2E5x
— Amanda House (@AmandaLeeHouse) September 12, 2018
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Did that smooth everything over? Let’s just say not everybody’s buying Google’s statement.
This is a bad statement. Google has apparently not paid attention to Facebook or Twitter scandals. https://t.co/uz2k66z6K3
— Adrienne (@AdrienneRoyer) September 12, 2018
Yeah James Damore was able to freely express his feelings wasn't he google? Such a lie…. https://t.co/BSOQv93ZQS
— Wilson (@ctbaz) September 12, 2018
What kind of music do you usually have here?
Oh we got both kinds; we got Country and Western. https://t.co/X8cI4e7jqd
— Primary Wiv Me (@TweetWivMe) September 12, 2018
Says the company which attempted to influence the 2016 election in “key states” with a “silent donation.”#Google https://t.co/Ln9cKnraA0
— justturnright (@justturnright) September 12, 2018
Because Google never de-monetized or deleted someone's YouTube channel because of free speech.
— Senpai 3:16 ?? ? (@Kansei13Kansei) September 12, 2018
Good news man, @jamesadamore, Google clarified that you WERE IN FACT able to "freely express [your] opinions."
It says it right here in this memo. All this time we thought you were fired for wrongthink. https://t.co/8OK12R5MZU
— Brett MacDonald (@TweetBrettMac) September 12, 2018
Google says, "Political bias doesn't influence the way we operate."
Isn't that the same thing Peter Strzok said? https://t.co/q2rRr0IFgX
— EJ Weeks (@earl_weeks) September 12, 2018
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Related:
Tucker Carlson: Email from Google exec talks about company’s ‘silent donation’ to 2016 election