Republican National Committee sues Google over spam filters

Date:

(Reuters) – The Republican National Committee (RNC) filed a lawsuit against Google on Friday, for allegedly sending its emails to users’ spam folders.

The US political committee accuses the tech giant of “discriminating against” it by “throttling its emails because of the RNC’s political affiliation and views,” according to a lawsuit filed in the Eastern District of California.

“Google has relegated millions of RNC emails en masse to the spam folders of potential donors and supporters during crucial points in election fundraising and community building,” the RNC said in the lawsuit.

Google did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Reuters.

Spam filters in email services typically remove unsolicited “spam” messages and redirect them to a separate folder.

The RNC said that for most of the month, almost all of its emails end up in users’ inboxes, but at the end of the month, which is an important time for fundraising, almost all of its emails end up in spam folders.

“Critically and suspiciously, this month-end period is historically when the RNC’s fundraising is most successful,” the lawsuit says, adding that it doesn’t matter if the email is about donations, voting, or community outreach.

The committee said the “discrimination” has been going on for about 10 months despite its best efforts to work with Google.

He said the fact that much of his mail went to spam folders had cost him revenue and would cost him more in the coming weeks as the midterms loomed.

Republicans have long accused the tech giants of discriminating against conservative views and suppressing free speech.

Tech companies deny it.

(Reporting by Rhea Binoy in Bengaluru; Editing by Robert Birsel)

Copyright 2022 Thomson Reuters.

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here

Share post:

Popular

More like this
Related