WASHINGTON
– U.S. Senators Kevin Cramer (R-ND), John Thune (R-SD), and 24 of their
colleagues introduced the Political Bias in Algorithm Sorting (BIAS)
Emails Act. This legislation would hold Big Tech platforms accountable for
using biased algorithms and ensure emails are delivered to consumers
without a political filter. The legislation would also create more transparency
for consumers by revealing the censoring practices Big Tech platforms,
including Google, use to filter content.
“Big
Tech has an unprecedented influence on our political landscape. Evidence has
shown their algorithms have a clear liberal bias over what information
Americans receive about candidates, campaigns, and political issues. This is an
afront to consumer choice and free political speech. Our bill confronts this
bias by requiring transparency and empowering Americans to choose what they
read, not Google,” said Senator Cramer.
“I’ve
long believed that Congress should hold Big Tech accountable to the users who
rely on its platforms – for everything from email to social media – and empower
those consumers to make their own online decisions, free from Big Tech’s heavy
hand,” said Senator Thune. “I’m proud to lead this effort that
would prohibit large online platforms from censoring emails through filtered
algorithms – a process that ultimately discriminates against political
campaigns. Consumers should be able to choose what they want to see, not
Google. It’s long past time for Big Tech to be held accountable for its blatant
bias, and this bill would be an important step in that direction.”
To
prevent Big Tech from hindering the access of voters to a candidate’s
perspective on certain political issues and other relevant information,
the Political BIAS Emails Act would prohibit email platforms,
like Google, from using politically-biased email filters unless a user
proactively labeled the sender as spam. The legislation would also bring
much more transparency to the practices large email services use to dictate
outcomes by requiring email services to produce quarterly transparency reports.
Earlier
this year, a non-partisan, University study found Google’s
algorithm marked nearly 70 percent of emails from Republican campaigns during
the 2020 election as spam compared to only 8 percent of emails from Democrat
campaigns.
Joining
Senators Cramer and Thune are Senators Mitch McConnell (R-KY), John Barrasso
(R-WY), Roy Blunt (R-MO), Joni Ernst (R-IA), Rick Scott (R-FL), Marsha
Blackburn (R-TN), John Boozman (R-AR), Mike Braun (R-IN), Mike Crapo (R-ID),
Tom Cotton (R-AR), Steve Daines (R-MT), Deb Fischer (R-NE), Chuck Grassley
(R-IA), Josh Hawley (R-MO), James Lankford (R-OK), Cynthia Lummis (R-WY), Roger
Marshall (R-KS), Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV), Jerry Moran (R-KS), Jim Risch
(R-ID), Marco Rubio (R-FL), Tim Scott (R-SC), Tommy Tuberville (R-AL), and
Roger Wicker (R-MS).
