USA Trump wants to prosecute Google for "bad stories" about him

Republican US presidential candidate Donald Trump has called for Google to be prosecuted. The company's internet search engine shows a disproportionate number of "bad stories" about him.

By contrast, only hits for positive articles about his rival, Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris, were displayed, Trump explained on Friday (local time) on his online service Truth Social. "This is an illegal practice," he wrote. He hopes that the Department of Justice will prosecute Google "for this blatant election interference".

If the Justice Department does nothing, Trump added that if he wins the election in November, "subject to the laws of our country", he will seek prosecution of Google "at the highest level". Trump did not provide any substantive evidence for his claim. Previously, a conservative group had criticized the hits that Google showed when the keywords "Donald Trump presidential campaign 2024" were entered.

Company denies accusation

In this report, only a "single rare search term on a single day a few weeks ago" was examined, Google told the AFP news agency. But even in this search, the websites of both presidential candidates were among the first results displayed.

The company, which does not disclose its search algorithm, has always denied influencing search results in favor of political candidates. It is known that popularity and publication date play a role in the ranking of results.

Trump has repeatedly made disproven false claims in the past, including about alleged election manipulation in the 2020 presidential election, in which he lost to President Joe Biden.