Last year, Google quietly removed its unofficial but long-running motto, "Don't be evil," from its code of conduct.

Probably a wise move, seeing as it has failed to live up to that concept. Here are eight times Google violated that simple axiom and was evil to the LGBTQ community in sake of profits.

Censoring Itself for Foreign Markets

Google found itself in a difficult situation as it attempted to expand into foreign markets with governments fond of censorship. Most famously, in 2006 it re-launched Google-China, agreeing to censor out topics and terms seen as politically sensitive for the country from its search results. This makes the awareness necessary for sustained organizing efforts difficult, in a country that is still without marriage equality, and has yet to put in place to guard against discrimination on the basis of gender identity and sexual orientation, in areas like housing and employment.

In 2015, BuzzFeed reported that Google censored gay dating app Jack'd from the Google Play Store in South Korea, where it had been the most popular gay dating app prior to its removal. It did so without even bothering to tell the developer.

"It’s one thing when a government [censors content], especially when a democratic government does it. We may not agree with it, but we can at least see the process," Jillian York of the Electronic Frontier Foundation said. "When a corporation does it—we didn’t elect these people. They have no right to do that to us."

In 2018, Google pulled the gay dating app Blued from the Google Play Store in Indonesia, following pressure from the government to shut down all LGBTQ-related apps there.

YouTube Algorithm Putting Profits Over People

In an effort to increase time on site, and therefore profits, Google created an algorithm for YouTube shortly after purchasing it in 2005, recommending similar videos before the current video had ended. The resulting wormhole has been known to feed users increasingly radical videos, such as those pushing white nationalist or conspiracy theory messages.

While the update has been great for Google's bottom line, it has been a disaster for the public discourse and a danger to vulnerable communities. While the company has made efforts to clean up the platform in recent years, critics have criticized it as too little too late.

The company has been forced to respond, but it has mostly delivered hollow talking point about working harder to do better, while the problem persists. Partly it's a matter of policing an insane amount of content, but that's the platform Google owns and from which it profits, and the enormity of the problem doesn't make them any less culpable.

YouTube Restricted Mode Blocking LGBTQ Content

In 2017, LGBTQ creators reported their content was being blocked by YouTube's Restricted Mode setting.

"Restricted Mode is an optional feature used by a very small subset of users who want to have a more limited YouTube experience," a Google spokesperson said in an initial statement. "Some videos that cover subjects like health, politics and sexuality may not appear for users and institutions that choose to use this feature."

After the backlash grew, Google was forced to deal with the issue more directly, admitting the Restricted Mode feature was not operating as designed.

"Over the last several months, and most definitely over the last few days from LGBTQ and other communities, we’ve gotten lots of questions around what Restricted Mode is and how it works," the company said in a statement. "We understand that this has been confusing and upsetting, and many of you have raised concerns about Restricted Mode and your content being unfairly impacted. The bottom line is that this feature isn’t working the way it should. We’re sorry and we’re going to fix it."

It also admitted it had gotten it wrong on a number of videos, including by creators Ash Hardell, Calum McSwiggan, Tegan and Sara, and Jono and Ben.

"While the system will never be 100 percent perfect, as we said up top, we must and will do a better job," it added.

Running Anti-LGBTQ Ads While Demonetizing LGBTQ Videos

In a one-two punch of awful, last year YouTube found itself having to reverse course and issue an apology for demonetizing a slew of videos from LGBTQ creators while also running anti-LGBTQ ads. To make matters—somehow—even worse, some of those anti-LGBTQ ads were running on videos by LGBTQ creators.

Eventually, the company responded via a statement on the YouTube Twitter account, yet again promising to do better.

"We’ve taken action on the ads that violate our policies, and we are tightening our enforcement. And when we hear concerns about how we’re implementing our monetization policy, we take them seriously and make improvements if needed," the statement read.

Dragging Its Heels on Removing a Conversion Therapy App

When tech companies were pulling a conversion therapy app by Living Hope Ministries, a non-profit Christian group based in Arlington, Texas, Google remained silent and allowed it to stay up. This despite the practice, which attempts to change one's sexual orientation and gender identity, being debunked and denounced by every major medical association in America.

So while Apple, Amazon, and Microsoft all removed it, Google resisted calls to do likewise. Finally, it relented, the pressure growing too great to ignore.

One can only guess how many LGBTQ people were subject to the harmful message pushed by the app before it was finally removed from the Google Play Store.

"We are delighted that Google finally backed down and deleted a dangerous app that targeted LGBTQ youth with toxic messages of guilt and shame," said Truth Wins Out executive director Wayne Besen in a statement.

"It is still unfathomable why Google stubbornly defended the indefensible for months, when the hateful and destructive content in this app should have been self-evident. We hope this sends a powerful message that ‘pray away the gay’ products are unacceptable and have no place in a decent and civilized society."

Allowing Steven Crowder to Flagrantly Break Its Rules

In late May of this year, journalist Carlos Maza posted a compilation video on Twitter of the anti-gay and racist bullying he was being subjected to by YouTuber Steven Crowder.

Despite the behavior appearing to break YouTube's policies, and despite Crowder responding with a fake apology video filled with slurs, the company said Crowder's videos could remain on the platform because harassment wasn't the main intent behind them.

Crowder's videos have been demonetized, but the YouTuber has used the controversy to sell his own merchandise, including an anti-gay shirt he links to in the description of his YouTube videos, and grow his fan base.

This month, YouTube said it will announce new policies to prevent “creator-on-creator harassment” sometime later this year, offering little to nothing in the way of details, yet calling it "just as important to the YouTube community as any product launch."

Maza appeared on the podcast Reply All, where he said the ongoing harassment and YouTube's weak response has made him reconsider making videos again in the future.

Silencing LGBTQ Workers

Google's LGBTQ employees are reportedly outraged at the company's response to the Maza/Crowder situation, as well as the company's past blunders.

In June, four LGBTQ Google employees spoke with The Verge about their upset and concerns.

"Internal outreach to executives has not been effective in years," said one employee, speaking on conditions of anonymity for fear of reprisals. "They ignore us completely unless there is extreme unrest. We can’t trust them anymore to listen in good faith."

"It feels like YouTube is just giving far-right trolls a guide to circumvent the policy and get away with whatever they want," said another.

Speaking up has also come with consequences, as co-workers have leaked screenshots of internal conversations online in the past, along with personal information. When the doxxing was reported to the company, Google said it was not responsible, a source told the publication.

Employees responded to the controversy by calling on Google to remove its Pride branding after deciding to allow Crowder's videos to remain on the platform.

When it became clear that some Googlers intended to protest the company's presence in San Francisco Pride parade this year, a memo was sent around warning them not do so while marching with Google or YouTube in any official capacity.

Making Contributions to Anti-LGBTQ Candidates

Earlier this month, 30 LGBTQ activists sent a letter to the CEOs of tech companies asking them to cease donations to anti-LGBTQ politicians.

Google found itself on that list, as it has, through its corporate PACs, given a combined $178,500 to politicians who scored zeros on the HRC legislative scorecard, BuzzFeed News reported.

Those donations include contributions to Utah Republican Sen. Mike Lee, who said that the progressive agenda "rejects the enviable right to life according to one's religious convictions, and is utterly blind to the moral and economic consequences of our nation's growing marriage crisis."

The company also donated to Iowa Republican Rep. Steve King, who went after state Supreme Court justices who ruled against his state's same-sex marriage ban, and has since asked what's so wrong and offensive about terms like "white nationalist" and "white supremacist."

"These corporations create welcoming and safe environments for their LGBTQ employees and market to LGBTQ customers," Lane Hudson, the campaign manager for Zero for Zeros, which analyzed the data, told BuzzFeed.

"But they're still giving to members of Congress who will make an America that is unsafe for all of us, and we want them to reconcile their values with their corporate giving."