Major Joe Biden Donor Funded Study That Did Not Find Evidence Of Big Tech Conservative Bias

The Monday report from New York University that found no evidence of Big Tech bias against conservatives was funded by Craig Newmark, a donor to Joe Biden’s presidential campaign, The Daily Caller reported. The study found that conservatives are promoting “political disinformation” by accusing technology companies of bias against their ideology and called for Biden to establish a Digital Regulatory Agency.

As noted by Axios, the report underlined the financial support it received from Craig Newmark Philanthropies, a private charitable foundation that provides financial support for anti-disinformation projects and journalism. While The Daily Caller admitted that the researchers noted Newmark’s financial support for the study, the publication underlined that they did not highlight his politics.

Notably, Newmark donated $100,000 to the Biden Victory Fund — a political action committee linked to the Democrat’s successful presidential campaign. Elsewhere, he donated $35,500 to the Democratic National Committee in June.

Before Biden’s campaign, Newmark has funded several other prominent Democrats in their bids for power. He was a prominent funder of former President Barack Obama, Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

Paul M. Barrett, the head researcher on the study, argued it wasn’t necessary to disclose Newmark’s political leanings.

“He said that in order to obtain a conservative view of the censorship debate he watched live streams of congressional events, read congressional transcripts, consulted White House documents and reviewed President Trump’s public statements criticizing tech companies,” The Daily Caller reported.

According to the New York University report, conservative media and politicians received either just as much or more interaction on social media as their liberal competitors.

“Conservatives are drawn to the established platforms for the same reason liberals are: That’s where you can reach the largest audiences and enjoy the benefits of the network effect,” the researchers wrote.

“And as much as they condemn supposed social media favoritism, conservatives appear to relish wielding the bias-claim cudgel, even though it’s based on distortions and falsehoods.”

Big Tech bias has increasingly caused concern among both left- and right-leaning individuals. As The Inquisitr reported, Dr. Robert Epstein, the senior research psychologist at the American Institute for Behavioral Research and Technology, warned before the election that prominent technology companies would likely shift at least 15 million election votes without public awareness.

Still, data scientists previously used Facebook metrics to conclude that no evidence exists for prejudice on the platform. Elsewhere, the company was criticized for amplifying right-wing news content and curbing attention to left-wing alternatives.