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 affront 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).
Click here for bill text.
