Copyright takedown notices used to erase campaign coverage in Florida race
In the lead-up to Florida’s 22nd District primary, dozens of articles about candidate Michael Carbonara vanished from Google after bogus copyright complaints were filed.
Ahead of the primary for Florida’s 22nd Congressional District, journalists reported that over a hundred news pieces referencing Michael Carbonara were removed from Google after a copyright claim was lodged by little-known companies in the United Kingdom. Carbonara’s team said it had no involvement. The Sun Sentinel confirmed the takedowns occurred within a three-week span, showing how the DMCA’s automated process can be weaponized.
Experts note that similar strategies have been employed by Russia’s Rodina party to block an opposition group, and that U.S. proposals such as the Foreign Anti-Digital Piracy Act would expand these powers. Studies from the Open Observatory of Network Interference and the University of Twente have documented collateral blocking of benign sites in Spain and Italy under comparable anti-piracy schemes. Critics argue that expanding such legislation would give politicians a cheap tool to erase unfavorable coverage, undermining democratic discourse.
Why it matters
It shows how copyright law can be misused to suppress election information, threatening an informed electorate.
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