FTC chair accuses Google of treating GOP's emails as spam

The Trump administration has accused Google of discriminating against Republicans' emails and warned that the tech giant could be in line for a crackdown.

Federal Trade Commission (FTC) chair Andrew Ferguson wrote [PDF] to Google CEO Sundar Pichai on Thursday, citing a recent New York Post report that alleged Gmail was routinely flagging Republican fundraisers' emails as spam, while not doing the same to missives from their Democratic counterparts.

"If Gmail's filters keep Americans from receiving speech they expect, or donating as they see fit, the filters may harm American consumers and may violate the FTC Act's prohibition of unfair or deceptive trade practices," Ferguson wrote. "As the Chairman of the FTC, I write to inform you of your obligations under the FTC Act. Any act or practice inconsistent with these obligations could lead to an FTC investigation and potential enforcement action."

In the letter, Ferguson also noted ...