Washington, D.C. — Google’s policies of censorship are alive and well, and not just in authoritarian regimes, but here in the United States. EMN Senior Fellow Christian Sorensen, author and military affairs analyst covering the business of war, and his work to inform the public is facing blatant suppression.

“It took me ten months to create this map,” said Sorensen. “I viewed it as a public service. With the click of a mouse, Google censored the map and harmed the body politic.”

Sorensen created a map of six corporations that hold the bulk of defense contracts in the United States, highlighting “what each facility currently works on and suggests peaceful, beneficial fields toward which production could immediately pivot.”

Google claims that the map has violated its “Dangerous & Illegal Activities policies. The policy is as follows: “Do not use this product to engage in illegal activities or to promote activities, goods, services, or information that cause serious and immediate harm to people or animals. While we permit general information for educational, documentary, scientific, or artistic purposes about this content, we draw the line when the content directly facilitates harm or encourages illegal activity. We will take appropriate action if we are notified of unlawful activities, which may include reporting you to the relevant authorities, removing access to some of our products, or disabling your Google Account.”

These locations are a matter of public record, and all information was gathered from military contracting announcements, corporate press releases, and job postings. However, Google has removed access to the map, and will not respond to requests to remedy what is either an egregious oversight or a blatant act of censorship.

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