Republican National Committee is suing Google, claiming it sent millions of fundraising emails to spam folders ahead of midterm elections

• The RNC is suing Google, saying it illegally sent millions of outreach emails to spam folders.
• Google denied the RNC's claim that messages on Gmail were diverted at the same time each month.

The Republican National Committee said Google illegally filtered millions of its fundraising emails into spam folders ahead of November's midterm elections, according to a lawsuit.

The 28-page suit, filed on Friday in the Eastern District of California, said the RNC was discriminated against for its political views when nearly all of its messages to Gmail accounts were sent to recipients' spam at the end of each month.

That's when the RNC sends most of its appeals to donors and has historically been its most successful period, according to the suit.

The tech giant denied that it filters emails based on political leanings, The Associated Press reported.

"Google has relegated millions of RNC emails en masse to potential donors' and supporters' spam folders during pivotal points in election fundraising and community building," the lawsuit stated.

"It doesn't matter whether the email is about donating, voting, or community outreach. And it doesn't matter whether the emails are sent to people who requested them."

Google said it used AI-driven filters to determine spam emails by examining factors including "characteristics of the IP address, domains/subdomains, whether bulk senders are authenticated, and user input."

A 2020 study by North Carolina State University suggested that Gmail was more likely to block messages from conservative groups, with 10% of emails from left-wing groups filtered to spam compared with 77% of emails from right-wing groups during the 2020 presidential elections.

That study emboldened the RNC to ask the Federal Election Commission to investigate Google for political bias.

In a statement to The AP on Friday, RNC chairwoman Ronna McDaniel said: "Enough is enough — we are suing Google for their blatant bias against Republicans.

"For ten months in a row, Google has sent crucial end-of-month Republican GOTV and fundraising emails to spam with zero explanation. We are committed to putting an end to this clear pattern of bias."

A Google spokesperson told The AP: "As we have repeatedly said, we simply don't filter emails based on political affiliation. Gmail's spam filters reflect users' actions."

The spokesperson added that the company provided training and guidelines to campaigns and works to "maximize email deliverability while minimizing unwanted spam."

Google didn't immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.