operation and all of the Republican candidates
and organizations that derive strength from it.”
“Google should immediately reverse its decision
in order to ensure they do not suppress voter
turnout during both the Democrat primaries and
the 2020 general election,” the GOP groups said.
Democratic political groups have also
been critical of Google’s new policy. “Tech
companies should not reduce the power of
the grassroots just because it is easier than
addressing abuse on their platforms,” said
leaders of the Democratic National Committee
and allied groups helping oversee Democratic
congressional campaigns.
Social media companies are grappling with how
best to prevent a repeat of 2016 when Russian
operatives, masquerading as Americans, used
targeted advertisements and intentionally
falsified news articles to interact with and
attempt to deceive tens of millions of social
media users in the United States.
Google’s announcement follows the decision by
Twitter to ban political ads. Twitter also placed
restrictions on ads related to social causes such
as climate change or abortion rights. Twitter
said the move would help reduce the flow of
election-related misinformation. The Trump
campaign protested that change as well but said
Google’s will have more impact.
“Much has been made of Twitter’s equally
concerning decision to ban political ads and
suppress speech, but because advertising
on that platform is ineffective and only a tiny
percentage of Americans use Twitter, their
impact is insignificant,” the Trump campaign
and GOP groups said in a joint release. “Google,
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