Representative Tulsi Gabbard, the long-shot presidential candidate from Hawaii, is suing Google for infringing on her free speech (alternative source) when it briefly suspended her campaign’s advertising account after the first Democratic debate in June. The lawsuit, filed on Thursday in a federal court in Los Angeles, is seeking damages of at least $50 million. It’s believed to be the first time a presidential candidate has sued a major technology firm. The New York Times reports: Tulsi Now Inc., the campaign committee for Ms. Gabbard, said Google suspended the campaign’s advertising account for six hours on June 27 and June 28, obstructing its ability to raise money and spread her message to potential voters. After the first Democratic debate, Ms. Gabbard was briefly the most searched-for candidate on Google. Her campaign wanted to capitalize on the attention she was receiving by buying ads that would have placed its website at the top of search results for her name. The lawsuit also said the Gabbard campaign believed its emails were being placed in spam folders on Gmail at “a disproportionately high rate” when compared with emails from other Democratic candidates. Ms. Gabbard and her campaign are seeking an injunction against Google from further meddling in the election and damages of at least $50 million.
of this story at Slashdot.
Source:: Slashdot