This is important because Google has a major impact on how people search for information on the internet and which information they find while searching.
The coziness of this relationship deserves greater scrutiny.
The Hill reports:
Report finds hundreds of meetings between White House and Google
Google and its affiliates have had at least 427 meetings at the White House during President Obama’s tenure, according data from the Campaign for Accountability and The Intercept.
The data, gleaned from White House meeting logs, showed that in all, 169 Google employees have met in the White House with 182 government officials. Not surprisingly, Google’s head of public policy, Johanna Shelton, had the most White House meetings of any Google employee, with 128.
The report highlights the access enjoyed by Google, which has a expansive lobbying operation in Washington and consistently ranks among the highest spenders. In just the first quarter of this year, Google spent $3.8 million to lobby the government.
The meetings data spans from the first month of Obama’s presidency in 2009 to October 2015. Aside from Google staff and lobbyists, the data also takes into account White House meetings with companies Tomorrow Ventures and Civis Analytics.
Google’s corporate motto is “Don’t be evil.”
Let’s hope they weren’t.
(Image:Source)
