President Trump praised social media personalities Diamond and Silk in a tweet late Saturday, praising the duo as “terrific people who are doing really well.”
“We are all very proud of them, and their great success,” Trump wrote.
Our Social Media (and beyond) Stars, @DiamondandSilk, are terrific people who are doing really well. We are all very proud of them, and their great success!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 9, 2018
The sisters, whose real names are Lynnette Hardaway and Rochelle Richardson, became known for their pro-Trump video blogs in 2016 and have more than a million followers on Facebook. The duo has accused the social media giant of suppressing their posts to followers. Hardaway told the House Judicial Committee in April that “algorithms and tactics shouldn’t be in place to suppress some ideas.”
In a series of tweets earlier Saturday, Diamond and Silk questioned Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube over suppressing their reach to followers and views of their content.
Twitter, which has been accused of “shadow banning” conservative voices including some lawmakers, was expected to discuss its treatment of users in front of the House Energy and Commerce Committee. Twitter founder and Chief Executive Officer Jack Dorsey said in written testimony the network does not use political ideology to make any decisions, whether related to ranking content or how rules are enforced.
[Also read: Google to Trump: ‘We don’t bias our results’]
The president has also recently criticized social media for suppressing conservative voices, denouncing it as “censorship.” Private companies typically take action on users who violate behavior guidelines, while governments engage in censorship.
Diamond and Silk responded to the president’s praise Saturday night with “love and support” in a tweet of their own, retweeted with thanks by Trump, saying they “will always have his back!”
So nice, thank you both! https://t.co/IAskDJIILo
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 9, 2018
