Google and its subsidiary YouTube are looking to move into Web3—a buzzword for the next evolution of the internet. However, they have yet to address the racial bias issues in their current services and technology. In response to the murders of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and Ahmaud Arbery, Google issued a statement in support of Black lives, and YouTube pledged millions of dollars to support Black creators. Their actions since then paint a different story.

Instead of supporting the Black community, Google has blocked companies from using racial justice terms like “Black Lives Matter” to place advertisements on related video content. At the same time that Google prevented advertisers from choosing ads based on Black Lives Matter content, they actively allowed advertisers to search and place their content on tens of millions of videos tagged with white nationalist terms like “White Power” or “White Lives Matter.” This pattern is heinous. When advertisers cannot use search terms associated with Black Lives Matter, they are prevented from finding Black creators and the fans who support them, which diminishes the Black creators’ income and cuts into their own business’ profits. In turn, small Black businesses are prevented from growing wealth within the Black community and building financial stability for our families. 

These discriminatory practices are unacceptable. Join us in calling on Google to conduct a racial equity audit. 

Here is the Petition:

Larry Page, Sergey Brin, and other Google majority stakeholders, 

During the 2022 Annual Shareholder Meeting, Google had an opportunity to pass a resolution for the corporation to conduct a racial equity audit. This is a necessary step to addressing Google's and, its subsidiary, YouTube's racial bias issues in their current services and technology. While the majority of the Google's shareholders voted in favor of a racial equity audit, you blocked the resolution with your power as a Google majority stakeholder.

Google Ads has blocked racial justice terms like “Black Lives Matter” and "Black Power” while allowing search terms like “White Lives Matter” and “White Power.” Additionally, Google has allowed Steve Bannon, who promotes white nationalist ideologies and Trump propaganda, to monetize off of its other ad services. These practices uphold white supremacy, and suggest that Google doesn’t actually care about Black lives like they declared in its 2020 racial justice statement. 

However, Google can begin to rectify this practice and other discriminatory practices that proliferate at Google's many companies by conducting an independent, racial equity audit. Such an investigation will provide Google with specific areas where it must eliminate discrimination in its products and workplaces.

In order to truly begin to combat Google's racism and discrimination problems, you must demand Google immediately conduct a racial equity audit.  

Sincerely,
[Your name]