THIN SKIN

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

Scholar told offense to major donor was “imperiling the institution as a whole.”

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.