Google employees considered manipulating search results to help protest Trump’s travel ban

Google CEO Sundar Pichai speaks with reporters at thGreg Sandoval/Sundar Pichai

An undisclosed number of Google workers considered ways to use the company’s powerful search engine to assist in a protest against a travel ban implemented by the Trump administration in January 2017, the Wall Street Journal reported Thursday evening. 

The Journal said it reviewed emails that show Google employees proposed several ways to “leverage” the company’s search engine to direct users to pro-immigration organizations and contact government agencies. 

Those Google workers involved considered the travel ban “islamophobic,” according to the report. Google told the Journal that the plans were never implemented. 

The report is sure to draw even more scrutiny into how Google uses it’s influential platforms to sway public opinion. The Trump administration has accused the company of using those platforms to silence politically conservative voices, as well as make him look bad. 

Google did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider.

Read the full Wall Street Journal report here.

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