The State of Alabama could take action against Google should the multinational tech giant manipulate search results for crisis pregnancy centers, according to Attorney General Steve Marshall.
In a Thursday release, Alabama’s chief law enforcement officer warned that such a move could place Google at the center of investigations for violation of antitrust laws and religious discrimination.
Marshall joined 16 state attorneys general in sending a letter to Google CEO Sundar Pichai, calling on the Silicon Valley corporation to withstand political pressure from leftist officeholders that have recently taken aim at pro-life crisis pregnancy centers.
In announcing his warning to the world’s most prominent search engine, Marshall noted that Google held an enormous market share of consumer internet searches. The power Google holds, Marshall said, mandated that the company operates in the best interest of its users.
“Google accounts for more than 90 percent of all internet searches in the United States,” stated Marshall. “It also holds a dominant position in the market for online advertising. This dominant market position comes with a tremendous responsibility to Google’s users and to the American public.”
Marshall pointed to the growing number of progressive elected officials that have called upon Google to limit users’ search access to crisis pregnancy centers.
“Google once recognized its outsized public duty in its corporate motto, ‘Don’t be evil,’ and its commitment to ‘provide . . . users with unbiased access to information,'” advised Marshall. “Unfortunately, several national politicians now seek to wield Google’s immense market power by pressuring the company to discriminate against pro-life crisis pregnancy centers in its search results, in its online advertising, and in its other products such as Google Maps.”
“If Google fails to resist political pressure from those on the left and bow to their demands to censor or block crisis pregnancy centers, then we will act swiftly to protect American consumers,” concluded the attorney general.
In their warning to the tech giant, Marshall and his colleagues told Google’s leadership that the company would face immense scrutiny if it failed to resist liberal lawmakers’ demands.
The attorneys general wrote in the letter, “If you comply with this inappropriate demand to bias your search results against crisis pregnancy centers, our offices will (1) conduct thorough investigations to determine whether this suppression violates the antitrust laws of the United States and our States; (2) investigate whether Google’s conduct amounts to an unlawful act of religious discrimination under state law; and (3) consider whether additional legislation—such as nondiscrimination rules under common carriage statutes—is necessary to protect consumers and markets.”
According to the attorney general’s office, crisis pregnancy centers served over 1.8 million clients and provided services valued at over $266 million for little or no cost in 2019.
The private charities provide support in the form of ultrasounds, pregnancy tests, STD testing, parenting and prenatal education classes, post-abortive care, recovery counseling, and free or reduced-cost diapers, baby clothes, car seats and strollers.
Marshall joined attorneys general from Arizona, Arkansas, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Texas, Utah, Virginia and West Virginia in writing the letter to Google.
Dylan Smith is a staff writer for Yellowhammer News. You can follow him on Twitter @DylanSmithAL
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