FTC Chairman tells Google CEO Sundar Pichai, Gmail filters have a 'problem'; Google hits back: We have ...

The U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is raising alarms about how Google's Gmail service handles political emails.

FTC Chairman

Andrew Ferguson sent a letter to Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai, alleging that Gmail's spam filters unfairly target messages from Republican senders while allowing similar ones from Democrats to go through. In the letter, Ferguson stated, "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."This isn't the first time Google has faced such accusations. Republicans and conservatives have long claimed that major tech companies suppress conservative viewpoints, an assertion the companies have consistently denied.The FTC chair’s letter warned Google that a failure to comply with regulations could lead to an "FTC investigation and potential enforcement action."

Google reply to the letter

A Google spokesperson pushed back on the claims, stating that the company’s spam filters are non-partisan. "Gmail's spam filters look at a variety of objective signals — like whether people mark a particular email as spam... This applies equally to all senders, regardless of political ideology," the spokesperson said. The company also confirmed it would review the letter and engage "constructively" with the FTC.A lawsuit filed by the Republican National Committee making similar claims was previously dismissed by a U.S. judge.