Google accused of censoring conservatives in Missouri, faces probe

WASHINGTON, D.C.: Missouri's Republican Attorney General Andrew Bailey will launch an investigation into search engine Google over allegations that it was censoring conservative speech.

Google dismissed Missouri's allegations as "totally false."

Republicans have frequently argued that social media platforms hold an anti-conservative bias, though tech companies deny suppressing conservative voices.

In a close race for the November 5 presidential election against Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris, Republican candidate Donald Trump announced last month that he intends to prosecute Google if elected. Trump and his supporters claim, without providing evidence, that Google's search results only highlight negative stories about the former president.

"I am launching an investigation into Google - the biggest search engine in America - for censoring conservative speech during the most consequential election in our nation's history," Bailey said in a post on social media platform X. His post did not cite any example or evidence for his censorship claim.

"These claims are totally false," a Google spokesperson said in an email. "Search serves all our users, and our business rests on showing useful information to everyone no matter what their political beliefs are."