by David Lindfield
Apple News and Google News spent months suppressing negative stories about scandal-plagued Maine Democrat Senate candidate Graham Platner before his campaign collapsed, according to a new study from a conservative media watchdog.
The Media Research Center said Apple News and Google News published zero stories between November of last year and May of this year about the controversies surrounding Platner’s Senate bid.
Those controversies included reports about his Nazi tattoo and disturbing Reddit posts.
The MRC said the blackout began after a late October poll suggested Platner was the strongest Democrat to challenge Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME).
The watchdog said the blackout ended only after The New York Times published a May 30 report about Platner’s sexting controversy.
According to the study, Apple News and Google News failed to promote “at least 112” stories from conservative-leaning outlets that scrutinized Platner during the November-to-May period.
MRC Accuses Tech Platforms of Protecting Platner
Media Research Center President David Bozell accused the two major tech platforms of shielding Platner while he was politically useful to Democrats.
“For months, while Platner looked like the one Democrat who could beat Susan Collins, the two most powerful news apps in America buried scandal after scandal,” Bozell said.
“Then the polls turned, Platner became a liability, and suddenly the blackout ended.
“News judgment had nothing to do with it.”
Bozell said the alleged blackout kept millions of users from seeing damaging information about the Democratic candidate.