I recently got some bad news from the owners of a well-established pro-gun website. They can no longer publish stories from the Second Amendment Foundation — or from any other pro-gun group, for that matter.
The reason? Google.
Their site now takes a “hit” from Google’s algorithm whenever it publishes non-original content, they told me. So from here on out, they can only run stories they’ve written themselves and that have never appeared anywhere else. The days of sharing SAF reporting — or reporting from any other Second Amendment outlet — appear to be over. At least for now.
One thing is certain: Google is in business to make money. They are constantly tinkering with new ways to make even more of it. Google has never cared about anyone’s First or Second Amendment rights. They care about the bottom line.
It used to be that backlinks to other credible websites actually helped a news story. They improved your Google quality score — the metric Google uses, along with a handful of other factors, to decide how prominently your site shows up in search results. The higher the quality, the better the ranking.
Maybe all that has changed. Maybe it’s become old-fashioned.
Of course, there’s still one surefire way to climb Google’s rankings: pay Google directly. They love cash.
And there’s plenty of it coming in. Alphabet pulled in roughly $402.8 billion in revenue last year (SEC filing). That’s a staggering number. Per Google’s own AI, it’s enough to fund more than ten years of education for every child on earth, finance 40 Marvel movies, build three International Space Stations, or scrub every bit of plastic from the world’s oceans for the next 80 years.
Here’s the thing. If any government agency told a pro-gun website what it could and couldn’t publish, the accusations of censorship would come flying — and rightly so. But because Google is a private company, we’re supposed to shrug and move on?
Several prominent critics have recently accused Google of “monopoly behavior” — prioritizing revenue generation over user experience. I wholeheartedly agree. Their latest anti-gun move proves it.
Google wants pro-gun readers to see a handful of stories from a handful of approved authors — not a broad, diverse ecosystem of Second Amendment journalism. Websites that don’t fall in line get punished severely.
That is pure censorship. 100%. The fact that Google is a private firm rather than a government agency does not change what it is. They are restricting access to information. They are withholding the truth.
Lee Williams is the Chief Editor of the Second Amendment Foundation’s Investigative Journalism Project. The SAF Investigative Journalism Project wouldn’t be possible without support from readers like you. Click here to make a tax-deductible donation and help keep pro-gun stories like this one coming.