Long-shot presidential candidate Tulsi Gabbard is suing Google for violating her right to free speech.
The U.S. Representative for Hawaii claims the tech titan infringed on her First Amendment freedom when it briefly suspended Gabbard’s advertising account after June’s Democratic debates.
The lawsuit, filed Thursday in a Los Angeles federal court, suggests Google “arbitrarily and forcibly” deactivated her account for six hours on June 28—prime time for raising money and reaching potential voters.
“During this time, Google obfuscated and dissembled with a series of inconsistent and incoherent reasons for its actions,” Gabbard’s media team wrote in a press release. “In the end, Google never explained to us why Tulsi’s account was suspended.”
The campaign also maintains that its emails were being directed to Gmail spam folders “at a disproportionately high rate” compared to other Democratic presidential hopefuls.
Gabbard is seeking an injunction against Google from interfering in the election and damages of at least $50 million.
This is all just an algorithmic misunderstanding, though.
Google’s automated systems flag unusual activity on advertiser accounts—including large spending changes—to prevent fraud, The New York Times reported.
“In this case, our system triggered a suspension and the account was reinstated shortly thereafter,” company spokesman Jose Castaneda told the paper.
“We are proud to offer ad products that help campaigns connect directly with voters, and we do so without bias toward any party or political ideology,” he added.
This lawsuit, according to the Times, is believed to be the first time a presidential candidate has sued a major technology firm.
“Google’s discriminatory actions against my campaign are reflective of how dangerous their complete dominance over internet search is, and how the increasing dominance of big tech companies over our public discourse threatens our core American values,” Gabbard told the newspaper.
“This is a threat to free speech, fair elections, and to our democracy, and I intend to fight back on behalf of all Americans,” she said.
Calls to dissolve big tech have been gaining steam among politicians: Sen. Elizabeth Warren, another 2020 Democratic presidential candidate, in March called for the government to break up monopolies and promote competitive markets.
Gabbard’s suit was filed a day after the Federal Trade Commission opened a formal antitrust investigation into Facebook’s business practices, and fined the social network a record $5 billion for deceiving users about its privacy practices.
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