President Trump said Thursday that his administration will be looking into Twitter’s attempts at “shadow banning” Republicans, which he claims is a “discriminatory and illegal practice.”
“Twitter ‘SHADOW BANNING’ prominent Republicans. Not good,” Trump tweeted. “We will look into this discriminatory and illegal practice at once! Many complaints.”
Twitter “SHADOW BANNING” prominent Republicans. Not good. We will look into this discriminatory and illegal practice at once! Many complaints.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 26, 2018
Shadow banning, also known as ghost banning, is when a user and their content visibility is limited from the online viewers in a way that does not make it clear to the user that they have been banned.
For example, Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., Mark Meadows, R-N.C., Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, and RNC Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel all failed to appear on Twitter’s autofill search box when users typed in their names, Vice News reported Wednesday. The outlet found in an analysis that no Democrats were being “shadow banned” in this way.
Twitter acknowledged the issue, and said it was an unintended side effect it was working to change.
