FEC Dismisses GOP Complaint Alleging Gmail Sent More Republican Fundraising Emails To Spam Folders, Report Says

Topline

The Federal Election Commission dismissed a complaint filed by the Republican National Committee against Google, rejecting claims the company’s Gmail service purposely filtered emails soliciting donations for Republicans to spam folders at a higher rate than donation requests for Democrats, The Wall Street Journal reported.

Key Facts

The FEC said it found no evidence to support the RNC’s claim that the alleged Gmail scheme was an unreported campaign contribution to Democrats, The Journal reported, citing a letter the agency sent to Google last week informing the company its investigation has closed.

The FEC reportedly said Google adequately proved its spam filters were in place for “commercial reasons” to protect users from malware, phishing attacks and scams.

The RNC filed a complaint with the FEC in April, citing an academic study by North Carolina State’s Department of Computer Science that found the Gmail algorithm sent Republican fundraising emails to users’ spam folders at an 820% higher rate than Democrats’ fundraising emails during the 2020 election cycle.

The study authors, however, stated that they had “no reason to believe that there were deliberate attempts . . . to influence voters,” the FEC noted in its letter to Google.

Forbes has reached out to Google, the FEC and the RNC.

Crucial Quote

“The Commission’s bipartisan decision to dismiss this complaint reaffirms that Gmail does not filter emails for political purposes,” Google spokesman José Castañeda told The Journal. “We’ll continue to invest in our Gmail industry-leading spam filters because, as the FEC notes, they’re important to protecting people’s inboxes from receiving unwanted, unsolicited, or dangerous messages.”

Big Number

67.2%. That’s the share of emails from Republican candidates that were flagged as spam, according to the North Carolina State study, compared to 8.2% of emails from Democrats.

Key Background

The RNC, along with the National Republican Senatorial Committee and the Republican Congressional Committee, estimated in its complaint to the FEC that conservative candidates lost $2 billion in potential contributions dating back to 2019. The GOP groups linked the allegations to Republicans’ complaints that tech companies have unfairly censored content that appeals to their base, calling the alleged Gmail filters “a financially devastating example of Silicon Valley tech companies unfairly shaping the political playing field,” RNC Chair Ronna McDaniel, NRSC Chair Rick Scott (R-Fla.) and NRCC Chair Tom Emmer (R-Minn.) said in a joint statement. Google’s political arm, meanwhile, has taken a stance against Republicans who voted against certifying the results of the 2020 presidential election. Following the January 6 Capitol riots, the company announced its political action committee, NetPAC, would not make any political donations to the eight Republican Senators and 139 House Republicans who opposed the certification of Biden’s victory.

Further Reading

House Republicans’ Latest Biden Attack: Legislation Would Ban Federal Government From Urging Tech Companies To Remove Content (Forbes)

Biden Urges Bipartisan Legislation To Rein In Big Tech Companies—As GOP Targets President In Tech Probes (Forbes)

Google Stops Political Funding For Republicans Who Refused To Certify Election Result (Forbes)