In an Aug. 28 letter to Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai, Ferguson said he was concerned by reports that Gmail’s spam filters block Republican political messages at a much higher rate than similar Democratic emails. The FTC chairman warned that such practices could violate federal regulations and potentially trigger an investigation.
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“If Gmail’s filters keep Americans from receiving speech they expect, or donating as they see fit, the filters may harm American consumers and may violate the FTC Act’s prohibition of unfair or deceptive trade practices,” he said.
In an August memo to clients, Republican consulting firm Targeted Victory alleged that Gmail was flagging emails with links to the GOP fundraising platform WinRed, often sending them straight to spam, according to the New York Post. Emails with links to ActBlue, the Democrats’ main fundraising platform, were delivered without issue, the outlet reported.
Republicans have long accused Big Tech firms of suppressing conservative content and viewpoints.
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A Google spokesperson said the company will review the letter and engage “constructively” on it, but pushed back on claims of bias.
“Gmail’s spam filters look at a variety of objective signals – like whether people mark a particular email as spam, or if a particular ad agency is sending a high volume of emails that are often marked by people as spam. This applies equally to all senders, regardless of political ideology,” the spokesperson told the Daily Caller News Foundation.
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