That would be obviously and transparently false. Have you not paid attention to any of the transparency reports that companies like Microsoft and Google have put out that specifically show how many times the government requests information (that they’re legally required to provide)? What the hell do you think that is? Magical access?
Seriously. Not that I necessarily believe 100% that this denial proves Google isn’t involved (for my part, I think the system is more complex than reports have made it sound, that there are probably some things that the companies legally have to turn over and aren’t allowed to discuss, but that most of them aren’t happy about it). However, this story, more than most recently, has gotten blown so far away from reality and so many normally respectable journalists are cavalierly throwing accuracy and research to the wind that it’s just impossible to know what’s real anymore.
Yeah, and while we’re at it, where’s that birth certificate? That’s how denials work, right? Everything politicians don’t explicitly say is false must be true! Not that we’d believe them if they did explicitly say something was false, but seriously! Where’s the long-form?!
Sure. It’s entirely possible that a lot of folks don’t know what’s going on (and, actually, some reports have said that this is exactly how it works).
However, if the company’s Chief Legal Officer isn’t involved in the process, then the process is fundamentally broken in more ways than the American people (and the world) are prepared for.
