Houston Chronicle by Benjamin Wermund 5/10/2022
Sen. Ted Cruz and Texas GOP Rep. Kenny Jackson go all in with Twitter, Gmail conspiracy claims
Texas Republicans are going all in on theories that tech companies such as Google and Twitter are censoring conservatives, a growing gripe on the right that experts say is largely unfounded.
U.S. Rep. Ronny Jackson of Amarillo was the latest, tweeting Tuesday that Gmail is “actively suppressing” Republican fundraising pitches: “ELECTION INTERFERENCE! Big Tech is out of CONTROL!!”
Jackson’s office pointed to a North Carolina State University study that found that GOP pitches were sent to Gmail spam filters at a higher rate than Democratic emails, the basis for a recent Federal Election Commission complaint filed by the Republican National Committee, the National Republican Senatorial Committee and the National Republican Congressional Committee alleging that Google is “putting its thumb on the scale to benefit one party’s candidates over another, in violation of federal law.”
Sen. Ted Cruz, meanwhile, has recently talked about mysteriously gaining hundreds of thousands of followers after news broke that Elon Musk was buying Twitter.
“It’s almost like they turned off the shadow bans … ” Cruz tweeted.
They’re the latest salvos in a growing battle between Republicans and tech companies that they believe unfairly target those with their viewpoints. Musk became a hero to many on the right when he reached a deal to buy Twitter for $44 billion, vowing to do away with the perceived censorship.
On Tuesday, Musk said he would allow former President Donald Trump back on the site when he takes the reins in the coming months. Trump, who has said he would not return to the platform, was banned after the Jan. 6 insurrection. Musk said that move “alienated a large part of the country and did not ultimately result in Donald Trump not having a voice,” the New York Times reported.
But experts in computer science and politics say the situation is much more complicated than Republicans are making it out to be.
More:
https://www.houstonchronicle.com/politics/texas/article/Sen-Ted-Cruz-and-Texas-GOP-Rep-Kenny-Jackson-go-17162996.php
