JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A Florida woman is suing Google after the tech company allegedly blocked her account last year, according to court records filed on Thursday.
The lawsuit states that the woman — Gertrude Perez-Poveda, a woman over 76 years old in Duval County — had held her Google account for more than 11 years before it was disabled on Sept. 23, 2023.
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“Mrs. Perez requested and demanded an explanation,” the lawsuit reads. “Google, through several unknown agents and/or employees acting within the course and scope of their agency and/or employment with Google, refused to give her any explanation, other than a vague reference to its ‘Acceptable Use Policies.’”
However, the lawsuit adds that Perez-Poveda had used her Google account on Sept. 23 to contact her peers in Family For Life, a Catholic group that holds prayer sessions near abortion clinics in Jacksonville.
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In an email to FFL members, Perez-Poveda announced an upcoming Catholic Mass across the street from an abortion clinic along University Boulevard, court records show.
“The email noted the unborn would be remembered ‘(p)rayerfully, peacefully and reverently,’ and that prayer also would be offered up for all people involved, including the abortion-prone mothers, the abortion providers and the pro-life counselors,” the lawsuit reads.
According to court documents, Perez-Poveda’s Google account was suspended around an hour after the email was sent out, “giving no reason whatsoever.”
While a member of Google’s Account Recovery Team was initially willing to help her regain access to her account, though he reneged a few days later, telling her that the account was permanently disabled, the lawsuit says.
The lawsuit also claims Perez-Poveda was told that all of the data associated with the account — emails, contacts, photos, notes and documents — wasn’t recoverable.
In addition, she was told that she had violated the company’s Acceptable Use Policy, though the representative was unable to share the exact policy that was violated, according to the lawsuit.
As a result, Perez-Poveda is accusing Google of conversion, de-platforming, deprivation of property and censorship, the lawsuit shows. She is seeking damages of over $50,000 and to have the data associated with her Google account returned to her.
The full lawsuit has been attached to this story and can be read in the media viewer below.
Google Lawsuit by Anthony Talcott on Scribd