On Tuesday I covered how leaked documents showed an email thread within Google staff calling people such as Dennis Prager and Ben Shapiro Nazis, and brainstorming ways to limit their exposure on their platforms.
(READ: Leaked Document Shows Google Employees Labeling Ben Shapiro, Prager U, And More As Nazis)
The email only proved a longstanding accusation against Google that it was biased against conservatives, and even gave us a look into just how extreme the ideological leanings at Google were.
Texas Rep. Dan Crenshaw also found this behavior from Google to be beyond ridiculous, and possibly even dangerous. During a US Homeland Security Hearing, Crenshaw had Derek Slater, Google’s Global Director of Information Policy, in the hot seat and the Texas representative unleashed the beast.
“Two of these people are Jewish – very religious Jews – and you think they’re Nazis. It begs the question, what kind of education do people at Google have that they think religious Jews are Nazis?” asked Crenshaw.
Crenshaw noted that three of these had family members killed in the Holocaust and that Shapiro is the number one target of the alt-right.
“And yet you people operate off the premise that he’s a Nazi,” said Crenshaw. “It’s pretty disturbing.”
Crenshaw then asked Slater if Google has a definition of hate speech, which Slater obliged by giving him a long-winded definition. Crenshaw cut him off after a time.
“Do you have an example of Ben Shapiro, or Jordan Peterson, or Dennis Prager engaging in hate speech?” asked Crenshaw. “Do you have one example off the top of your head?”
Slater didn’t give him a yes or no answer, and instead cited some of their rules. Crenshaw, likely understanding he wasn’t going to get an answer, moved on. He noted that we have a culture where Nazism is so hated that we allow phrases like “punch a Nazi” to be a good premise to operate off of, and given that fact, one of the largest social media companies in the world labeling people as Nazis is implying that it’s okay to use violence against them.
“What you’re doing is wholly irresponsible,” said Crenshaw.
.@RepDanCrenshaw goes off on Google rep over recent leaked emails calling @benshapiro @jordanbpeterson and @DennisPrager "Nazis using the dogwhistles":
"What kind of education do people at Google have?…Three of three of these people had family members killed in the Holocaust." pic.twitter.com/2dxJHeYUCb
— Nate Madden (@NateOnTheHill) June 26, 2019
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