Did Google Target Harlem News Site? Evidence Obtained Says Yes.
From The G-Man Was “Shadow Banned,” Deleted, and Reposted Two
Months After an Announcement Was Published on Facebook and LinkedIn
On June 12 of this year, the original version of this independent news and information site and its 11-year catalog of news features and investigative reports was completely, inexplicably and mysteriously removed from the Internet. Shortly after, the Gmail account for the news site, FromTheGMan@gmail.com, could not be accessed after multiple attempts. There are a number of email messages from Google/Gmail that have been retained to confirm the site repeatedly tried to access the account.
When From The G-Man (FTG) was removed, it appeared that Google, or some agency or department in partnership with the company, did not want the general public to have access to original investigative reports or information that was vital to them and their families. This includes reports on improperly trained home health aides that posed a danger to seniors, how Governor Andrew Cuomo and the state failed to hold nursing home operators/owners and home health care agencies accountable, questionable New York City Police Department (NYPD) policies and procedures (Google happens to have a contract with the NYPD), detailed updates on the Mumia Abu-Jamal case, and guardianship fraud and the probate courts, among others.
Many who follow the site through Facebook news posts, especially within the Black community, were outraged. The 11-year catalog also included special features, such as “Trailblazers in Black History” and reports on the Black Lives Matter movement, that were being used to teach young students all across the country. Thanks to Google, access to those reports had been denied.
Additionally, FTG suspects Google’s callous and unexplained action had a monumental impact on the families of servicemembers killed in Afghanistan and Iraq and slain police officers. How? When Google opted to delete the site, they also deleted hundreds of tributes to those killed in combat and in the line of duty. From The G-Man posted these tributes, which included videos of the memorial services in their entirety, so they could be viewed by families of the victims in and outside of the U.S. Thanks to Google, once again, access had been denied.
If Google had an issue with commentaries or special investigative reports that were published, why wasn’t an email sent to this office to inform us of such or, at the very least, issue some type of warning. Why remove an entire 11-year catalog of news features and investigative reports? Google may be a private company, but any guideline or policy it has implemented regarding freedom of expression or the press doesn’t supercede the U.S. Constitution.
People who have followed the site for years contacted the office to find out why it had been deleted. Google never responded to any queries that were submitted to its Support Services division, so explanations couldn’t be provided. Interestingly, six days after the site was removed, someone emailed the following Washington Post article to the news office.
Black Creators Sue YouTube, Alleging Racial Discrimination
This was a monumental development, and FTG believes there may be a correlation between the report and the site’s removal. Why? “Blogger,” which remains the host site for the original version of this site, is owned by Google. Again, Google owns YouTube and Blogger. FTG publishes aggregated and original news reports for various demographics, but its primary goal is to report and showcase issues of vital concern to communities of color in Harlem and beyond. As a result of the aforementioned suit, and the fact that Google has never contacted this office to explain why FTG was taken down, the only conclusion that can be drawn is that the multi-billion dollar corporation targeted this site and did so for a specific reason.
Rising from the ashes
Thanks to the generous contributions of some extremely pissed off private investors, members of the Jewish community who were not happy about the site’s removal, this WordPress version was launched on July 16, 2020. It will take some time to amass the enormous number of views obtained on the Blogger site, but the new version is off to an extremely good start, according to its webmaster.
“What the Hell is Going On?!?”
On August 12, an announcement was placed on Facebook and LinkedIn informing followers that the Blogger version of From The G-Man was removed on June 12, without explanation or warning, and that a new version of the site had been launched on WordPress. The message was also emailed to reporters and media outlets that often visited the original site to review posts and special investigative reports. Then, something very, very strange occurred. Two days after the announcement was posted, the original Blogger site was placed back on the Internet without any explanation as to why it was removed or restored. It should be noted that FTG was suddenly able to access its email account as well, but equally strange is the fact that it did so by providing the same detailed information that Google/Gmail had denied during initial attempts to access the account.
“Google Will Not Be Able to Defend This!”
On August 4, From The G-Man obtained evidence that clearly showed how Google “shadow banned” both versions of the news site so they wouldn’t appear on its search engine! The proof is irrefutable, and FTG has three witnesses with exceptional credentials who can confirm this was happening: a famous radio and television personality, a federal law enforcement official, and a former federal government employee who worked as an IT engineer and writes codes for computers. The latter, whose identity is being concealed for security purposes, made the discovery and presented From The G-Man with the evidence, which includes some incredibly damning screenshots. Statements from the engineer and the screenshots can be viewed through the link below.
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Open in new tab To date, Google has not responded to any of the queries that were submitted. For the record, Google may have restored the Blogger version, but no content will ever be published on the old site. Quite frankly, the company can no longer be trusted. Instead of deleting it, it will remain online and serve as an information source for students, teachers and the general public. All aggregated content and original investigative reports will solely be placed on this site.
From The G-Man has never received compensation for its painstaking efforts. It’s operated solely on small, periodic donations from the public over the last 11 years. Thus, the site is not in a financial position to meet with an attorney to discuss options for legal action against Google in what could be a precedent-setting case. If any attorney or law firm would be interested in speaking with our office or obtaining more information, our contact information is listed on the site. That said, FTG is issuing the following plea to every high-ranking official at Google. From The G-Man wants you to publicly apologize to the family members who were denied access to the video memorials that were published in honor of their slain loved ones. The same is requested for young students and teachers, especially in Black communities, nationwide. Your issue was with this news site, not them! They didn’t deserve that!
Finally, if Google finally decides to respond as a result of this report and proclaim it didn’t remove the site or engage in shadow banning, the company has a responsibility to tell From The G-Man who did. We’ll take it from there.