Donald Trump is warning Google to be "careful" before it's shut down, as he claims the company has been " very irresponsible."
Former President Trump nonchalantly told Fox's Maria Bartiromo that Google needs to be cautious for being reckless and hinted at a possible shutdown due to his belief that Congress won't tolerate it.
(Photo : Joe Raedle/Getty Images)
The website of The Patriot Legal Defense Fund, an organization funding the legal costs for some staffers and allies of Donald Trump, has reportedly been hacked.
In typical Trump style, he mentioned that Mark Zuckerberg of Meta had reached out to him after the assassination attempt, but no one from Google had contacted him. It is easy to label this as typical transactional Trump rambling, considering he referred to Facebook as "the enemy of the people" in March while reversing his decision to ban TikTok. One phone call and a "badass" remark, and it appears you're back in his favor.
However, the Verge dug a little deeper, claiming that they see a clear connection between Trump's remarks on Google and the venture capitalists in Silicon Valley who are funding his campaign. Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz expressed concerns about the company's influence as they revealed their backing for Trump, noting that it was "stronger than most nations globally."
Peter Thiel has been providing financial support for regulatory measures against Google for a long time, and he has even referred to the company as "treasonous" in the past.
Vance's Stance on Big Tech
JD Vance, Trump's running mate backed by Thiel, has attended antitrust events where he commended FTC Chair Lina Khan's work and endorsed the idea of breaking up major tech companies. At a Y Combinator event in Washington, DC last month, Vance asked if Google requires YouTube. Does Google require all these additional platforms that are constructed beneath its umbrella?
His stance on the matter is reportedly because like almost every conservative, Vance is irritated at how the big platforms moderate content.
Google Lawsuits
Trump's warnings follow closely after Google admitted to the well-known incognito lawsuit only a few months ago. It has been reported that Google has resolved the incognito lawsuit by agreeing to erase billions of browsing histories, a decision praised by the consumers involved in the lawsuit.
During a 2020 legal case, Google faced allegations of misleading customers about how Chrome tracked the actions of users who employed the private "Incognito" browsing feature.
The lawsuit alleged that consumers were not sufficiently notified about the data being collected by Google's marketing and privacy statements, which included details about the websites they viewed. The settlement papers were filed in a federal court in San Francisco outline the company's changes to its private browsing practices.
Google has committed to improving transparency regarding the information it gathers in private browsing mode. Users will now be able to prevent third-party cookies from tracking them and delete numerous data points that were allegedly obtained unlawfully.
