Helen Coster and Dawn Chmielewski

(Reuters) – Rupert Murdoch renewed his attacks on Google and Facebook (NASDAQ:) during News Corp’s annual shareholder meeting on Wednesday, accusing the tech giants of trying to silence conservative voices and calling for “significant reform.”

Murdoch is fond of Silicon Valley businesses. He has long criticized Google and Facebook for publishing the news articles in violation of compensation. The public flogging continued, despite News Corp (NASDAQ:) winning concessions from both companies, which earlier this year agreed to pay for the publisher’s content in Australia.

Murdoch said, “For years our company led the global conversation about Big Digital.” We have witnessed the shortcomings of Google and Facebook over the past weeks, which only reinforces our need for reform.

Murdoch accused Facebook’s employees of trying to silence conservative voices, and noted “a similar pattern of selectivity” in Google’s search results. CrowdTangle’s data suggests that conservative voices such as Ben Shapiro or Dan Bongino rank high on Facebook.

The media mogul also cited the lawsuit filed by 10 states attorneys general last year, which accuses Google of having monopolized the digital advertising market. He claimed that Facebook worked with them to control online auctions, where advertisers can buy or sell ad spaces.

Murdoch stated, “Let’s be clear about the implications of that digital advertising market manipulation.” Publishers have suffered material damage, however, companies and their advertisers have both been charged excessively for advertising. Consumers have therefore paid far too much for the products they have advertised.

For comment, representatives from Alphabet Inc.’s Google or Meta Platforms Inc.’s Facebook couldn’t immediately reach them.

Murdoch called for algorithmic transparency — echoing debate in Congress in the wake of Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen’s disclosures about the social network’s business practices.

Murdoch declared that “the idea falsely promoted on platforms that algorithms can somehow be objectively and solely scientific” was nonsense. Algorithms can be modified by anyone to harm publishers, competitors, or businesses.

Murdoch called upon former President Trump to address the Wall Street Journal editor Oct. 27, repeating his false claim that 2021’s presidential election had been rigged.

Murdoch declared, “The Past is The Past and the Country is Now in a Contest to Define the Future.”