*

Republicans have accused tech platforms of suppressing

conservative views

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Tech platforms deny claims

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FTC chair's letter warns Google may face probe if it

violates

regulations

(Adds Google comment, quote from letter warning about a probe,

past lawsuit in paragraphs 2, 5-9)

By Kanishka Singh

WASHINGTON, Aug 28 (Reuters) - U.S. Federal Trade

Commission Chairman Andrew Ferguson alleged that Gmail uses what

the FTC calls partisan filtering and raised the issue in a

letter to Sundar Pichai, the CEO of Google parent company

Alphabet, the regulator said on Thursday.

"My understanding from recent reporting is that Gmail's spam

filters routinely block messages from reaching consumers when

those messages come from Republican senders but fail to block

similar messages sent by Democrats," the letter released by the

FTC said.

A Google spokesperson said Gmail's spam filters apply

equally to all, regardless of political ideology.

Google has denied similar claims from Republicans and

conservatives in the past.

Republicans have long accused big tech companies of

discriminating against and suppressing conservative views, an

assertion the companies deny. Many tech firms have in recent

months aimed at building warm ties with Republican President

Donald Trump, who took office in January.

The Google spokesperson said the company will review the

letter and engage "constructively" on it.

"Gmail's spam filters look at a variety of objective signals

- like whether people mark a particular email as spam, or if a

particular ad agency is sending a high volume of emails that

are often marked by people as spam. This applies equally to all

senders, regardless of political ideology," the spokesperson

added.

The FTC chair's letter warned the company that not being

consistent with FTC regulations "could lead to an FTC

investigation and potential enforcement action."

A U.S. judge has previously dismissed the Republican

National Committee's lawsuit accusing Google of intentionally

misdirecting the political party's email messages to users' spam

folders.