Election interference? Google fails to show results on Trump assassination attempt, Musk questions motive

Google's search omission sparks controversy (File)

A Controversy has erupted and questions are being raised after Google allegedly omitted the search results related to a failed assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump. This omission led to confusion and accusations from Trump's son, Donald Trump Jr., who claimed that the tech giant was trying to manipulate the upcoming election. Tesla CEO Elon Musk also expressed concern and raised doubts.

There was an assassination attempt on Trump on 13 July, but users searching for details found Google's autocomplete tool unhelpful, as it failed to mention the incident.

Musk, who has publicly supported Trump’s presidential bid, expressed his concerns on X, stating, "Wow, Google has a search ban on President Donald Trump! Election interference?"

Wow, Google has a search ban on President Donald Trump! Election interference? pic.twitter.com/dJzgVAAFZA— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 29, 2024

The controversy has fuelled debates over potential biases and election interference by major tech companies, raising questions about the influence of search engines on public information and perception during critical times.

Google users searching for information about the 13 July assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump were surprised to find the autocomplete feature omitting results about the event. Instead, it displayed historical assassination attempts on figures like Ronald Reagan and Archduke Ferdinand. This sparked an outcry on social media, with Donald Trump Jr. accusing Google of election interference to benefit Kamala Harris, calling it "intentional election interference."

Big Tech is trying to interfere in the election AGAIN to help Kamala Harris. We all know this is intentional election interference from Google. Truly despicable. https://t.co/gWDbFGaHI7— Donald Trump Jr. (@DonaldJTrumpJr) July 28, 2024

Musk also commented, responding to a user insinuating that "Google was controlled by Democrats," saying, "They’re getting themselves into a lot of trouble if they interfere with the election."

Following the controversy, a Google spokesperson told Fox News that no "manual actions" were taken to influence search suggestions. They explained that their systems have built-in protection features against autocomplete suggestions related to political violence, which were functioning as intended. Defending the autocomplete feature, they stated it is designed to "help people save time" while still allowing users to search for anything they wish. Google remains committed to providing users with high-quality information and helpful results, he added.