Latest news with #MAGA-controlled
Newsweek
3 days ago
- Business
- Newsweek
Trump Is Bending Institutions to His Will. Now, He Wants To Control Google's Search Results
Advocates for ideas and draws conclusions based on the interpretation of facts and data. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. It should come as no surprise that the man who vowed to be a dictator only on "day one" has spent the first six months of his presidency trying to assert control over companies and institutions. President Donald Trump has attempted to bully his perceived foes into silence or submission. Consider the destructive ways that Trump has seized control over institutions. He has held the Paramount–Skydance merger hostage to pressure 60 Minutes over its editorial decisions. He forced Meta to pay $25 million to settle his own baseless lawsuit over so-called unfair treatment. He demanded that Harvard hand over surveillance footage of lawful student protests and pressured law firms to bend a knee to his self-serving whims. In Trump's quest for control and compliance, Google's search engine results, which millions of Americans rely on every day, could be the next target. A logo sits illuminated outside the Google booth at ISE 2025 on Feb. 4, 2025, in Barcelona, Spain. A logo sits illuminated outside the Google booth at ISE 2025 on Feb. 4, 2025, in Barcelona, Justice Department's 2021 suit against Google is rooted in something fundamentally boring: the company's "search distribution agreements" with companies like Apple and Samsung. It's a relatively narrow case that's spanned three administrations, and seemingly too dry to spark fears of an authoritarian, MAGA-controlled internet. But Trump's appointees keep letting the mask slip. For them, it's actually about cracking down on Google's control over its own search results and content policies. When Judge Amit Mehta ruled against Google in early 2024, the company's competitors and critics came out of the woodwork for a gleeful round of remedy wishcasting. Former President Joe Biden's DOJ, riding a wave of anti-corporatism on the left, proposed a far-reaching set of remedies that strayed well beyond the original case. As the remedies stage unfolded this year, Trump's DOJ made clear that it didn't see this case as a matter of competition policy, but as a vehicle to punish Google for exercising its free speech rights. Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche dropped the pretense at the start of the remedies trial, telling reporters that the case was necessary because "Google has deplatformed conservative speech and has put its thumb on the scale politically for years." Assistant Attorney General Gail Slater went even further, calling Google a threat to "our freedom of speech, our freedom of thought." Never mind that the actual case says nothing about speech or censorship. To Trump's administration, this is about control, not market share. And they're pulling every lever they can to make sure this case ends the way Trump wants. The Justice Department's latest set of proposed remedies would put Trump appointees directly under the hood of Google's search engine for the next three to six years. If adopted by Judge Mehta, the DOJ's proposal would allow Trump to hand-pick a five-person "technical committee" with broad control over Google's business and products for a decade. Google's committee would get unprecedented access to all of Google's "secret sauce": source code, algorithms, and internal systems. They could examine any internal Google document or interview any Google employee. The DOJ's proposal would also let the Trump administration decide who counts as a "qualified competitor" to Google, and hand those companies the benefits of Google's innovation for free. That opens the door for Trump-aligned platforms like Truth Social and Rumble to get special treatment. Trump has shown, time and again, that he's more than willing to weaponize the government to advance his interests. It's easy to see where this road leads. Just look at how Trump ousted the Kennedy Center board, simply because he didn't like a drag show. Now, Trump's hand-picked loyalists are reshaping the Center's programming to serve his ideological agenda. At an institution meant to celebrate free expression, dissenting voices are no longer welcome. Imagine Googling "Donald Trump" and seeing only glowing coverage. Imagine Googling for information on immigration or abortion rights, only to be funneled into MAGA propaganda. If that sounds far-fetched, it shouldn't. We've already seen what Trump does with power: he punishes critics, installs loyalists, and bends once-independent institutions to his will. Now, the president stands to gain unprecedented influence over the world's most powerful information tool. It's now up to Judge Mehta to decide whether to hand Trump that power. Let's hope he stops short of giving Trump another weapon to wield against dissent. Adam Kovacevich is founder and CEO of the center-left tech industry coalition Chamber of Progress. Adam has worked at the intersection of tech and politics for 20 years, leading public policy at Google and Lime and serving as a Democratic Hill aide. The views expressed in this article are the writer's own.
Yahoo
20-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Should Arizona put a 'bounty' on migrants heads? Hell no
Arizona is leading the pack in the hunt for migrants, now pushing to put a 'bounty' on their heads and making it legal to shoot them on private property. Hunting for migrants has long been a favorite sport of Arizona's border vigilante groups and the elected leaders who passed restrictive anti-immigrant laws in the early and mid-2000s. The difference now is that Donald Trump has declared a nationwide war on migrants, ordering to deport all those here illegally by any means necessary. Arizona MAGA lawmakers are now eagerly working to tame Trump's fury over the slow pace of deportation, and what they're proposing is vigilantism on steroids. Republican Sen. Jake Hoffman is proposing a 'bounty bill' to pay local law enforcement for each undocumented immigrant arrested and deported. This is no joke. The chairman of the Arizona Freedom Caucus wants to put a $2,500 bounty on migrants' heads, just like in the olden days of the lawless frontier. It's unclear how Hoffman came up with that amount, but his Senate Bill 1111 would impose a fee on migrants' international wire transfers. Taxpayers could, if they want, also claim the fees paid as tax credit. That's how Hoffman is selling his head-hunting pitch to MAGA Arizonans, who are itching to use migrants as human targets. And just in case there's any doubt of their barbarian tactics, Rep. Justin Heap is pushing a bill to legalize the shooting and killing of anyone illegally crossing private property. The legislation doesn't mention undocumented immigrants, but it is meant to give property owners free rein to kill and shoot. Case in point? Arizona rancher George Kelly was charged with second-degree murder in the 2023 death of an unarmed migrant. The likes of Kelly, who ultimately got a mistrial, would be legally justified under Heap's proposed law with no need to bother with the courts. Another bill, SB 1164, that is now making its way through the MAGA-controlled Legislature would force local police officers to help with Trump's immigration crackdown. This comes after some cities like Phoenix have said no city resources will go toward helping Trump's mass deportation. Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs is the only one who could stop these vigilantism bills. I'm heartened that a Hobbs spokesperson told The Arizona Republic that 'there's no way in Hell' she'll sign the bounty bill, in part because it puts a 'bounty on the heads of innocent people who have worked hard, paid taxes and lived in their communities for decades.' But what about the other anti-immigrant bills? Hobbs has said she'd work with Trump on border security, but she hasn't clearly articulated what that means. Opinion: Maybe Elon Musk should count deportation dollars Migrant bounty hunting is gaining steam everywhere from Mississippi to Missouri, exploiting Trump's immigration war to promote vigilante tactics. Mobilizing hunters to go after migrants who are already terrified of being deported will only push them further underground. Curtailing illegal immigration and enforcing border security is one thing, but encouraging vigilantes in a 'law and order' country spells trouble for everyone. It's cruel to put a target on men, women and children whose only crime is a civil offense in their pursuit of safety. It's up to the U.S. to take migrants or not, but it should be done strategically, orderly and humanely. None of that orderly migration has happened under any federal administration because migrants are useful tools to stoke public fear for personal, political and financial gains. Now, it's MAGA's turn. And they're blatantly turning America into a vigilante state. The 'bounty' is now on migrants, but it won't stop there if we let them. Elvia Díaz is editorial page editor for The Arizona Republic and azcentral. Reach her at 602-444-8606 or Follow her on X, (formerly Twitter), @elviadiaz1. This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Arizona hunt for migrants is vigilantism on steroids | Opinion
