With the election on the line, Big Tech faces a day of reckoning in Texas probe

Texas lawmakers have launched what may prove to be the most extensive probe of Big Tech election manipulation to date. While still in its early stages, the investigation could uncover further damning evidence of Big Tech’s election interference as Americans prepare to head to the polls this November.

In May, I testified alongside two Facebook and Google whistleblowers in Austin about how Big Tech platforms suppress and boost political content to shape public opinion and influence voter behavior, frequently discriminating against conservatives.

If Texas prevails, the resulting disclosures could prove damning for the tech giants and create a powerful incentive for them to remain neutral in the lead-up to the November election.

Following our testimony, the Texas Senate Committee on State Affairs voted unanimously to investigate Big Tech for potential election interference.

Now, committee chairman Sen. Bryan Hughes is turning up the heat on the platforms. Alphabet, Meta, TikTok, and X have been given until August 30 to produce a host of internal documents and communications detailing how they curate, moderate, and target political content. If they refuse to comply, a state court could compel them to disclose the information.

This investigation is the most extensive probe of Big Tech election manipulation since July 2019, when a U.S. Senate subcommittee examined Google’s ability to influence votes.

Psychologist and researcher Robert Epstein testified at the time that Google alone shifted at least 2.6 million votes to Hillary Clinton in 2016. The company did so through highly personalized search results and “ephemeral experiences,” such as voter registration and go-vote reminders.

Epstein’s more recent research confirms that Google likely shifted millions of additional votes during both the 2020 presidential election and the 2022 midterms using similar means. For example, Google targeted Democratic users with go-vote reminders at a far higher rate than Republicans in certain areas. Epstein concludes that absent Google’s algorithmic distortions, some races would likely have turned out differently.

Despite concerning evidence of bias, Google and its Big Tech counterparts remain unimpeded in their ability to shape political discourse and potentially shift millions of votes again this November. But Texas’ investigation could turn the tide.

Under Texas law, the platforms can be held in contempt and brought before a grand jury for action in state court should they fail to comply with the records request. This procedural detail matters because the subpoena gives the committee authority to obtain the companies’ actual documents and communications, rather than rely on vague, generic responses. Moreover, since the probe is not limited to the platforms’ state-specific activities, its findings could have national significance.

If Texas prevails, the resulting disclosures could prove damning for the tech giants and create a powerful incentive for them to remain neutral in the lead-up to the November election. Platforms could finally be forced to answer for countless decisions to shadow ban and demonetize sites and content creators for spreading so-called “mis/disinformation.”

A whistleblower previously exposed Alphabet’s Google Search and YouTube for using internal blacklists to ban and down rank political content. But the company has never been held accountable and its censorship apparatus remains in operation.

At the same time, Facebook “whitelists” certain high-profile users and exempts them from standard “community guidelines” through its XCheck program. This effectively advantages “whitelisted” political candidates over opponents who are not similarly exempted on the platform. XCheck functions much like a digital caste system for users. Yet, the company still operates it with little transparency.

TikTok is no better. Aside from its biased censorship of political content, the U.S. Justice Department slammed the platform for collecting data on the sensitive social views of its American users ahead of a contentious election year.

These are just some of the manipulative practices that could finally be examined and unpacked for the world to see.

The probe might also shed light on how Big Tech wields content-ranking algorithms as well as tools like suggested search prompts, AI-generated responses, and targeted “nudges” to influence election outcomes.

According to Tech Watch Project’s real-time analysis, the three top search engines — Google, Bing, and Yahoo — currently register a “significant” or “extreme” liberal bias. That is enough to tip the scales, especially in close races this November.

Polling indicates extremely tight presidential and U.S. Senate contests in swing states like Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin, and Arizona, with candidates often between one to five points of each other.

Republicans and Democrats agree that Big Tech’s power to shape our political discourse and elections must be reined in, regardless of which candidates win in November. That’s why all three Democrats on the Texas Senate panel voted with their GOP colleagues to support the committee’s investigation, even in a contentious election year. This investigation might be America’s best hope of protecting our elections from Big Tech this November.