FTC claims Gmail filtering Republican emails threatens “American freedoms”

Federal Trade Commission Chairman Andrew Ferguson accused Google of using “partisan” spam filtering in Gmail that sends Republican fundraising emails to the spam folder while delivering Democratic emails to inboxes.

Ferguson sent a letter yesterday to Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai, accusing the company of “potential FTC Act violations related to partisan administration of Gmail.” Ferguson’s letter revives longstanding Republican complaints that were previously rejected by a federal judge and the Federal Election Commission.

“My understanding from recent reporting is that Gmail’s spam filters routinely block messages from reaching consumers when those messages come from Republican senders but fail to block similar messages sent by Democrats,” Ferguson wrote. The FTC chair cited a recent New York Post report on the alleged practice.

The letter told Pichai that if “Gmail’s filters keep Americans from receiving speech they expect, or donating as they see fit, the filters may harm American consumers and may violate the FTC Act’s prohibition of unfair or deceptive trade practices.” Ferguson added that any “act or practice inconsistent with” Google’s obligations under the FTC Act “could lead to an FTC investigation and potential enforcement action.”

“While outside my purview, I believe such conduct may also violate applicable state consumer protection laws,” Ferguson’s letter said in a footnote.

Google beat RNC in court

Google provided Ars with a statement today. “Gmail’s spam filters look at a variety of objective user signals—like whether a user marks an email as spam or if a particular ad agency is sending a high volume of emails on behalf of their clients that are often marked by users as spam. This applies equally to all senders, regardless of political ideology. We will review this letter and look forward to engaging constructively,” Google said.