If you talked to Google (say, in a Congressional Hearing or something), Google representatives will tell you that their search engine is completely objective and fair. After all, they don’t “ban” sites from appearing on Google. That’s what Twitter did. But Google allows all voices on its platorm!

And it’s true. If I search Google for “Daily Wire” or “The Blaze”, there they are, showing up #1!

Here’s the problem, which I first detailed in this post. Google doesn’t ban these sites, but they make them virtually invisible for virtually any search that users do, other than their brand name.

Here’s an example from recent events, and in a few years we’ll look at the “Arlington Hoax” as yet another media hoax like drinking bleach, fine people, and Russian collusion.

As I demonstrated in the screenshot, the news “reports” are overwhelmingly driving the narrative that Trump’s team bullied their way into Arlington National Cemetery to the condemnation of veterans everywhere.

The Daily Wire had a story on this which shed light on the fact that no, the Trump team was invited by the Gold Star Families to join, the Biden Administration tried to stop him from attending, and House Speaker Mike Johnson had to intervene to allow it to happen.

If I search for the exact title of the article on The Daily Wire: When Arlington National Cemetery Denied Trump Joining Gold Star Families, Mike Johnson Stepped In: Report, yes, it shows up #1 on Google News.

Of course, only someone who has seen the article already could possibly do this.

Can you guess how many people searched for this on Google? I can tell you the answer. One. It was me.

Let’s try searching for a slightly shorter phrase: When Arlington National Cemetery Denied Trump Joining Gold Star Families

It’s still a phrase that is ridiculously specific, but already you can see just because the search is slightly less specific, Google’s algorithm ranks NPR over The Daily Wire. What Google is saying is that for this specific phrase, NPR is the most important news source on the topic.

Let’s continue down this road. When I take away some words to make the search even less specific, When Arlington National Cemetery Denied Trump, here’s what happens.

The Daily Wire is still hanging on to position #8, but Google says that for this phrase, BBC, CNN, CBS News, Military.com, NBC News, MSNBC News, and Yahoo News Canada (!) are all “more authoritative” than the Daily Wire for this phrase.

Note that ALL of these headlines paint the “incident” as negative for Trump.

Finally, let’s take out the word “When” and search for Arlington National Cemetery Denied Trump

Out of ALL the phrases I typed into Google, this is the one that POSSIBLY might be typed by a user (more likely, users will type phrases like “arlington”, “arlington trump”, “arlington incident”, etc., which all have similar results.

Where’s The Daily Wire? Vanished. In its place are sites like the Hindustan Times which Google feels is more “authoritative” a news source for this topic than The Daily Wire.

Conclusion

Every month, 800 million people use Google News or Google Discover, making it one of the most significant platforms for news distribution.

Google and its defenders will tell you that Google is doing nothing wrong here. And they’re correct in a very technical sense.

The FCC used to have a policy called “The Fairness Doctrine” in place which required that broadcasters present controversial public issues in a way that was “honest, equitable, and balanced”. Of course, that only applied to TV and radio, which the FCC regulates, and it was abolished in 1987.

Online news sites are not regulated at all and while the First Amendment dictates that the government cannot abridge free speech, it does not apply to private companies.

Does Google have monopoly power over search? The Department of Justice recently ruled that it does. Does anyone believe that Merrick Garland is going to ask for remedies that break up the Democratic Party’s stranglehold on the news, powered by Google employees who feel that they’re doing their moral duty by suppressing conservative voices? Don’t hold your breath.

So what’s the answer here? It’s simple. It’s you and me. This rinky dink site isn’t attracting more than a few people a day. I’m not making any money off of it, at least not for the foreseeable future (notice that there are no ads, no e-mail signup, no newsletters, nowhere that I beg you to buy a book). But if I can reach a few people, it’ll be worth it.

You need to do the same. Share this site, share high quality news sources you know of that have been suppressed by Google (conservative, progressive, I don’t care as long as it’s truly fair). Subscribe to news sites like The Daily Wire and The Blaze (remember that because they’re suppressed by Google they can’t rely on search to bring them traffic while other sites like the New York Times and Rolling Stone get thousands of subscribers from Google clicks). Start your own Web site. Speak up on social media.

Use your free speech. Before it’s gone.