FILE – In this Oct. 20, 2015 file photo is signage outside Google headquarters in Mountain View, Calif. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez, File). Inset: FILE – Republican National Committee chairman Ronna McDaniel speaks during a Get Out To Vote rally on Oct. 18, 2022, in Tampa, Fla. (AP Photo/Chris O’Meara, File)
A federal judge in California threw out the Republican National Committee‘s lawsuit against Google that accused the tech giant of illegally sending party fundraising emails to users’ spam folders.
In a 38-page ruling, U.S. District Judge Daniel Calabretta, a Joe Biden appointee, granted Google‘s motion to dismiss, thereby putting at least a temporary end to RNC claims that Google must compensate it for hundreds of thousands of dollars in lost donations. Calabretta noted in his dismissal, however, that it was a “close call,” and said that the RNC still has the chance to file an amended complaint.
RNC Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel said that the committee sued Google because it was “committed to putting an end to this clear pattern of bias.” However, after a hearing, Calabretta ruled that Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act — a federal law that has drawn harsh criticism, particularly from many conservatives for its function of shielding online platforms from lawsuits over third-party content — shielded Google from the claims.
McDaniel reacted to Thursday’s ruling by doubling down on claims that Google has demonstrated illegal anti-conservative bias.
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“This case is not over,” she said and vowed to amend the complaint and continue the litigation.
Calabretta rejected the RNC’s claim that Google wrongfully filtered emails that were “plainly not spam” as they had been sent to users who requested email correspondence. The judge reasoned that a user who interacts with a company once does not necessarily “solicit” every email that company sends thereafter.
Google maintained that its spam filters were put in place simply to protect users from unwanted communications. Furthermore, and as Calabretta specifically pointed out, Google said it provided a list of best practices to the RNC to avoid having its emails sent to spam.
Calabretta also said that allowing the RNC’s lawsuit to proceed would have the effect of discouraging providers from offering spam filters at all, as it “would place courts in the business of micromanaging content providers’ filtering systems” in contravention of federal law.
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