A conservative watchdog group says two of the country’s biggest news apps quietly kept dozens of unflattering stories about former Maine Senate hopeful Graham Platner off their most prominent feeds for months, just as he was climbing in early polling. According to the group’s tally, the apparent freeze-out ran from November 2025 through May 30, 2026, and left more than 100 negative pieces out of the morning spotlight.
What the study found
The Media Research Center says it monitored the top 20 headlines on Apple News and Google News each morning during that period and found that neither app surfaced a single negative Platner story in that marquee space. The group concludes that at least 112 significant reports were effectively sidelined, according to a special report by Media Research Center. MRC’s writeup links the absence of coverage to a late October poll that briefly showed Platner as Democrats’ strongest shot at unseating Sen. Susan Collins.
How the platforms responded
Google rejected the premise of the analysis, telling the Washington Examiner that the report is “totally false and based on a completely flawed methodology.” The company pointed out that Google News is updated throughout the day and tailors results to individual users. According to the Examiner, Apple did not comment, while MRC countered that neither company produced evidence that would directly refute its story count.
What broke the blackout
Coverage shifted sharply in late May and early June, when fresh allegations started landing in public view. That wave included a May 30 article detailing alleged sexting and a June report featuring accounts from former girlfriends. MRC says that is when the dry spell on the major news apps began to ease. A reconstructed timeline of those developments is laid out by the Bangor Daily News.
Political fallout
Platner pulled the plug on his campaign last week after a run of controversies and new accusations battered his bid, leaving Maine Democrats scrambling to find a replacement on a tight schedule. The party must settle on a new nominee by July 27, and anyone hoping to jump into the convention fight has to file by 5 p.m. on July 15, according to reporting by the Denver Gazette.
Why it matters
Researchers and journalists have long warned that a handful of curated feeds can quietly shape what millions of people think is “the news” on any given day. The MRC findings rekindle long-running questions about how those feeds are assembled and who gets to peek behind the curtain. For a deeper look at how news curation systems can act as gatekeepers, and at earlier calls in Washington for more transparency, see the academic study Auditing News Curation Systems and a related congressional record on news curation and platform transparency.
