Former US President Donald Trump has criticized Google for “acting illegally” and urged people to stop using the search engine.
“There’s something wrong with Google,” Trump said in a conversation with YouTube streamer Adin Ross on August 5. “Maybe people should stop using Google.”
He also called Google's search engine "illegal," citing billionaire Elon Musk and several celebrities as saying Google was interfering with searches for information about the former president.
Musk previously accused Google of having a "search ban" on Trump. He posted a video with the keyword "Donald Trump" but most of the content displayed was related to Kamala Harris. The billionaire also shared an image showing Google's autocorrect tool suggesting "donald duck" when typing in the words "president donald."
Google declined to comment on Trump's remarks.
Trump's son, Donald Trump Jr., made similar accusations earlier. He shared an image on X showing a Google search box with autocomplete options for a query related to the assassination of the former president. Trump Jr. called it "deliberate election interference by Google."
Last week, in an interview with Fox Business, the former president also said that "Google is going to have to shut down because I don't think Congress is going to let them go."
On August 5, Google was found guilty of violating antitrust laws on its search engine. The company is expected to lose tens of billions of dollars, although it still has the opportunity to appeal. In addition, it also paves the way for further legal actions, including breaking up the company into many smaller companies - if it happens, it will greatly change the online advertising industry that Google has dominated for many years. According to Reuters, this is also a signal that US antitrust enforcers will be more aggressive in prosecuting Big Tech.