In the volatile aftermath of Trump’s initial travel ban, Google employees reportedly discussed, in internal emails, how search results might be modified to counter anti-immigrant sentiment. Google says that none of the discussed modifications was ever implemented, and executives made clear that applying political bias was unacceptable.

Those discussions, however, are a stark reminder that the government must not be alone in upholding democratic values. It also requires companies to push back against employees' undemocratic impulses.

Trump will likely seize upon the revelation that Google employees were interested in pushing pro-immigration information to users as evidence of bias against conservatives. He’s undeniably right to point out that clearly some employees at Google wanted to manipulate search results against him. He’d also be right in identifying these actions as unfair and biased.

But the analysis cannot start and end with the interests and internal discussions of a few employees. After all, Google seems to have made the right call, refusing to implement any of the ideas put forth by upset employees. That’s the right approach.

Democracy, after all, is not safeguarded by government alone but by institutions. That includes citizens, the businesses they run and work for, and a robust civil society that they belong to.

That Google executives championed democratic values when faced with misguided, totalitarian suggestions from employees, shows not the failing of democracy and its ideas, but their strength. Google employees felt empowered to voice their thoughts and then, after discussion, Google did not move to change its algorithms or distort information displayed to users.

An important factor in that decision was likely that consumers don’t want a rigged search engine and do value free speech.

For democracy, that’s great news: Democratic ideas prevailed because there is broad social support, within and outside, of companies like Google that have an outsize role in how information is distributed.

As long as that continues to be the case and Americans continue to believe in those ideas, then a few stray employees who question its value will always face strong resistance — from both within the company and among consumers.

Instead of attacking these companies for the political frustration expressed in internal emails, the government should seek these companies out as partners. In the age of the Internet, Google and companies like it facilitate democracy and ultimately will be its ardent defenders, as long as citizens demand it. When Americans no longer want uncensored search results, the government won’t want them either.