Big tech companies worked to conceal negative news reports about former Democratic Maine Senate candidate Graham Platner, who recently dropped out of the race after yet another woman accused him of sexually assaulting her.
The Media Research Center released a report on Monday detailing how Apple News and Google News suppressed negative coverage of Platner during most of his campaign. The study showed the news aggregator sites ran no stories with headlines about the former candidate’s miles-long list of scandals and controversies.
The report further pointed out that while folks on the left propped Platner up as some everyman coming in from the outside to fight for regular people, Big Tech was hellbent on making sure people didn’t find out about his old social media posts, his inappropriate behavior with women, and how he mistreated his wife by sexting with other women.
Between November 2025 and May 2026, neither platform published a single headline about Platner’s Nazi tattoo and other scandals even though those stories were heavily featured elsewhere. Researchers analyzed the top 20 daily stories and found that the aggregators concealed at least 112 significant pieces from right-leaning outlets.
"Apple News and Google News ran a protection racket for Graham Platner,” Newsbusters’ Luis Cornelio wrote. “For months, while Platner looked like the one Democrat who could beat Susan Collins, the two most powerful news apps in America buried scandal after scandal. Then the polls turned, Platner became a liability, and suddenly the blackout ended. News judgment had nothing to do with it. Millions of smartphone users were denied the truth while Platner was politically useful and finally allowed to see it once he wasn’t."
The timing of the shift in coverage wasn’t random. It was a political calculation. "Rather than actually informing readers of the biggest news of the Maine Senate race, Apple News and Google News promoted articles that seemed to serve more as a soft re-launch of Platner’s campaign, a kind of second chance to help him recover." The report noted that "MRC has long shown that bias by omission can be just as influential as bias by commission."
Google responds to MRC's report by denying any bias.
— Media Research Center (@theMRC) July 13, 2026
It's interesting that @Google claims our research is false, but never denies its key finding. If they have proof that Google News shared any stories about Graham Platner's numerous scandals between November and May, they… pic.twitter.com/TPJe1xubcE
The report concluded that the coverage changed when it became clear that Platner’s chances of defeating Collins had tanked.
Despite months of salacious revelations about the candidate, Democrats threw their support behind him anyway. Folks on the left praised him for his authenticity and his willingness to take on the establishment wing of his party. Sure, he may have had a thing for Nazi symbolism and being aggressive with women, but he’s what’s needed to push back against President Donald Trump.
But when Jenny Racicot, a woman Platner dated in the past, came forward with her allegations that the former candidate forced himself on her in her own home, there was a shift. It was as if Democrats finally realized that Platner wasn’t the hero they sought.
As a result, Platner dropped out of the race and now there is speculation as to who Democrats will replace him with. Even further, Democrats have needlessly exposed their hypocrisy, showing the world that even though they enjoy calling their political opponents Nazis, they don’t really have a problem with Nazi candidates. Seems like it would have been easier to get rid of Platner earlier and found a candidate who doesn’t boast about pleasuring themselves in Porta potties.
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