Report: New America Foundation Think Tank Ousted Google Critic at Search Giant’s Urging

An influential U.S. think tank cut off ties to an analyst critical of Google’s market dominance under pressure from Eric Schmidt, the search giant’s chairman and a major donor. The New York Times reported Wednesday that New America Foundation President Anne-Marie Slaughter severed the left-leaning institution’s relationship with Barry Lynn and his Open Markets initiative in the days after Lynn published support on the New America website for a European Union court’s $2.7 billion antitrust penalty against Google in June. According to the Times, Schmidt expressed his displeasure to Slaughter, who, in an email a week later, told Lynn his group was being cast off because his work was “imperiling the institution as a whole.” A Google spokeswoman denied playing a role in the split; a New America representative said it was “mutual decision” that was not influenced by Schmidt or Google.