FTC Warns Google About Alleged Partisan Email Filtering
Google's Gmail is potentially violating the FTC Act through partisan treatment of email, FTC Chairman Andrew Ferguson said Thursday in a letter to Sundar Pichai, CEO of Google parent Alphabet. Pointing to New York Post reports earlier this month alleging that Gmail's spam filters are stopping Republican fundraising emails while letting Democrat fundraising emails through, Ferguson said partisan spam filtering "may harm American consumers and may violate the FTC Act’s prohibition of unfair or deceptive trade practices." He warned of a potential agency investigation and enforcement action.
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A Google spokesperson emailed that Gmail's spam filters "look at a variety of objective signals -- like whether people mark a particular email as spam, or if a particular ad agency is sending a high volume of emails that are often marked by people as spam. This applies equally to all senders, regardless of political ideology." The company "will review this letter and look forward to engaging constructively."