MRC Original: Graham Platner’s unusual rise to political stardom followed one of literature’s oldest archetypes: an ordinary man (in this case, a so-called oyster farmer) challenges a seemingly indomitable enemy or power, transforming into a folk hero.
But at the core of every folk hero is a moral center that may bend, but never breaks. Despite Apple and Google’s best efforts to conceal Platner’s vacuous center, the growing evidence detailing the leftist darling’s shocking disregard for past girlfriends and combat veterans shows he’s no Rocky Balboa or Frodo Baggins.
The Media Research Center, in one of its most ambitious studies to date, found that Apple News and Google News, two of the most influential news aggregators, effectively shielded Platner from criticism. MRC data paint a startling picture: Apple News and Google News blocked stories about Platner’s mounting scandals from their feeds as he led the polls, silenced right-leaning outlets exposing the truth and then opened the floodgates when a Fox News poll showed Republican Sen. Susan Collins defeating Platner for the first time as sexual abuse allegations resurfaced.
MRC’s Findings:
Apple News and Google News ran zero stories from November through May with headlines about Platner’s mounting controversies, including his Nazi tattoo and deleted Reddit posts, in which he called himself a “communist,” denounced America and attacked police. The news blackout began during the Democratic Party primary as the first poll indicated that only Platner would defeat Collins in a hypothetical match-up. The blackout ended only after a May 30 report when sexting allegations came to light.
From November through May, Apple News and Google News willfully hid at least 112 significant stories from some of the most widely read right-leaning outlets covering Platner’s scandals, indicating a troubling pattern of intentional censorship.
Apple News and Google News’s effective shielding of Platner slightly ebbed after the first sex scandal stories were published. The tech titans’ censorship racket then completely collapsed when Fox News polling published on June 30, 2026, showed he would likely no longer defeat Collins, with both news aggregators suddenly promoting 12 negative stories about the embattled candidate on July 7 and 8.
In response to these findings, MRC President David Bozell blasted Apple News and Google News for shielding Graham Platner from scandals when it mattered most.“Apple News and Google News ran a protection racket for Graham Platner,” Bozell said. “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.”
Apple and Google’s News Suppression an Oath to Platner?
Timeframe: Nov. 1 through May 30
No other politician benefited more from Apple News and Google News’s left-wing slant than Graham Platner, a radical socialist who was engaged in a pitched battle against the more moderate Governor of Maine for the right to take on Sen. Susan Collins (R) in the general election. During the critical months of his primary campaign, neither news aggregator featured a single story about the scandals surrounding his candidacy.
Apple News and Google News are two of the most influential news sources in the digital era, effectively shaping what millions of users encounter each day.
The Media Research Center has consistently shown that these digital news gatekeepers, collectively receiving over 215 million monthly visits, exhibit a left-wing bias in their editorial decisions and algorithmic recommendations.
The outcome is often the same: they selectively bury stories that are detrimental to Democrats, promote negative stories about Republicans, all while giving far more visibility to left-leaning media sources.
In Platner’s case, data indicate that Apple News and Google News’s coverage blackout closely aligned with his standing in the race. When Platner’s poll numbers indicated future success in unseating Sen. Collins, news coverage of his scandals were hidden from smartphone users. Once the tide shifted, as concerned Democrat Party leaders began calling on Platner to step down, the news aggregators again appeared to do the party’s bidding to accelerate Platner’s departure.
MRC found that the digital news aggregators effectively shielded tens of millions of users from negative coverage of Platner. From Nov. 1 through May 30 (when The New York Times published its story about sexting allegations against Platner), neither Apple News nor Google News featured a single story about Platner in their heavily trafficked top 20 morning news feeds except for one story promoted by Google News on April 7 touting an Axios piece on Platner’s confidence that he would defeat Mills in the Maine primary.
Read Full Article: https://newsbusters.org/blogs/free-speech/luis-cornelio/2026/07/13/special-report-inside-apple-googles-failed-attempt
