Cruz pressures Google on The Federalist, ZeroHedge ad crackdown
'The culture of free speech in this country is under attack, and Google is helping lead the charge,' senator writes
Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, is sending a letter to Google CEO Sundar Pichai regarding the company's move to block financial blog ZeroHedge from its ad platform and warn online magazine The Federalist over their respective comment sections.
Google said content in the comment sections violated the tech giant's policies.
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The Federalist co-founder Sean Davis told Fox News' "Tucker Carlson Tonight" that it has temporarily removed its comment section to avoid demonetization.
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Cruz's letter, obtained by Fox News, focuses on The Federalist and says Google's efforts to demonetize the publication raise "serious concerns."
"This is part of a bigger problem," the senator wrote. "The culture of free speech in this country is under attack, and Google is helping lead the charge. Whereas Americans once understood that the best response to speech was more speech, some Americans, with the help of some of the most powerful companies on the planet, are now pressing to silence and punish those expressing views that do not align with the prevailing and ever-shifting progressive orthodoxy."
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"Destroying" The Federalist's "ability to use advertising to reach willing readers should be wholly beyond the pale," Cruz said.
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Google declined to comment on the letter specifically. The tech giant has banned a number of publications and websites from posting ads to the platform if they violate Google's policies.
Cruz has been vocal in his criticism of big tech censorship in recent weeks since Twitter decided to label two of the president's tweets, sparking a new debate about Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act and its role in protecting social media platforms that edit user content.