Senator Josh Hawley (R-MO) has written a letter to Google CEO Sundar Pichai demanding that the tech giant provide answers on allegations that the giant throttled the online ads and reach of pregnancy resource centers.
In a letter sent to Google CEO Sundar Pichai, Sen. Josh Hawley has demanded that the tech giant explain its attempts to throttle the online ads and reach of pregnancy resource centers.
Hawley wrote in the letter to Pichai: “I am concerned that, in the name of providing ‘clarity’ in search results, your company is deliberately limiting pregnancy resource centers’ outreach efforts. By doing so, Google has joined the far left’s campaign to punish pregnancy resource centers, following the Supreme Court’s ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization earlier this year.”
In this photo released by the Longmont Police Department the Life Choices building in Longmont, Colo., is seen vandalized on Saturday, June 25, 2022, following a fire at the Christian pregnancy center. The fire, which is being investigated by police as a possible arson, was reported hours after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade and said abortion laws would be decided by the states. (Longmont Police Department via AP)
Missouri pregnancy resource center websites have seen a steep decline in online traffic in recent months, which some believe could be the result of tampering by Google.
Hawley stated in his letter:
As part of their mission, pregnancy resource centers in my home state of Missouri seek to reach women considering abortion, in order to offer both alternatives to abortion and support during and after their pregnancies. That outreach takes a number of forms, including online ad campaigns focused on a number of abortion-related search terms.
But recently, your company appears to have throttled that outreach. Following steep declines in online traffic to their sites, they sought further information—and documentation provided to my office indicates that some of their ads now “aren’t eligible to show for keywords that relate to restricted products or services.” To be clear, those are your company’s words, not mine. I am concerned that, in the name of providing “clarity” in search results, your company is deliberately limiting pregnancy resource centers’ outreach efforts.
Hawley demanded that Pichai provide answers to the following questions:
- Has Google adopted a general policy restricting the range of advertising keywords available to pregnancy resource centers, or other organizations that seek to reach individuals considering abortion by offering relevant alternatives to the procedure in question?
- When and how often are individual organizations seeking to target abortion-related keywords required to undergo Google’s “certification” process?
Breitbart News has reported extensively on the leftist war against pregnancy centers and pro-life groups, including as part of the “Summer of Rage” series by editor-in-chief Alex Marlow.
Marlow wrote in the first part of the Summer of Rage series:
According to data compiled by the Family Research Council, there have been more than 100 attacks against pro-life groups nationwide since the beginning of May, many of which have been attributed to Jane’s Revenge, a far-left militant group that has taken credit for much of the violence.
Jane’s Revenge has garnered support from networks of leftwing activists, particularly those tied to the Madison, Wisconsin area. Just two days before the first Molotov cocktail attack on Wisconsin Family Action on May 8, 2022, the Facebook page of a group called International Workers of the World (IWW) of Madison Wisconsin posted a history of the Jane Collective, the 1960s pro-abortion group from which Jane’s Revenge takes its name.
Last year, the IWW Madison shared posts promoting violent behavior, including:
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A primer on how to fight “state oppression” by protesting and evading law enforcement.
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A reminder to “always assume that law enforcement or other fascists and hostile actors could be within earshot. Avoid gossip, speculation, and joking about anyone’s alleged participation in any criminalized activity.”
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An ominous photo warning that “Snitches Get Stitches.”
Read Hawley’s full letter here.
Lucas Nolan is a reporter for Breitbart News covering issues of free speech and online censorship. Follow him on Twitter @LucasNolan