President Trump accused social media of “shutting down voices on the right” early Saturday, saying his administration won’t let social media discriminate against conservative voices.
Social Media is totally discriminating against Republican/Conservative voices. Speaking loudly and clearly for the Trump Administration, we won’t let that happen. They are closing down the opinions of many people on the RIGHT, while at the same time doing nothing to others…….
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 18, 2018
Calling censorship “a very dangerous thing & absolutely impossible to police,” the president reiterated his description of cable networks CNN and MSNBC as “fake news,” but noted he does not want them removed.
“I get used to it and watch with a grain of salt, or don’t watch at all,” the president said in a tweet.
[Also read: Melania Trump warns social media can be ‘destructive and harmful’]
…..Censorship is a very dangerous thing & absolutely impossible to police. If you are weeding out Fake News, there is nothing so Fake as CNN & MSNBC, & yet I do not ask that their sick behavior be removed. I get used to it and watch with a grain of salt, or don’t watch at all..
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 18, 2018
Trump did not call out any social media platform individually, but seemed to encourage platforms to let users decide for themselves.
“Who is making the choices, because I can already tell you that too many mistakes are being made. Let everybody participate, good & bad, and we will all just have to figure it out!,” he said.
….Too many voices are being destroyed, some good & some bad, and that cannot be allowed to happen. Who is making the choices, because I can already tell you that too many mistakes are being made. Let everybody participate, good & bad, and we will all just have to figure it out!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 18, 2018
Trump has previously criticized Twitter directly over “shadowbanning” Republicans, meaning the service’s algorithm made content unlikely to appear. The service said in July it does not shadowban.
Facebook today apologized for removing videos posted by Prager U, a nonprofit that posts videos on educational topics from a conservative viewpoint. The social media company said it “mistakenly removed” the videos, noting they “don’t break our standards.”
We mistakenly removed these videos and have restored them because they don’t break our standards. This will reverse any reduction in content distribution you’ve experienced. We’re very sorry and are continuing to look into what happened with your Page.
— Facebook (@facebook) August 18, 2018
PragerU had claimed recent posts weren’t reaching any of its followers.
Last week, Apple, Facebook, YouTube, and other tech companies cut content from conspiracy theorist Alex Jones and his outlet Infowars from their platforms over hate speech concerns. Twitter placed the far-right personality on a seven-day suspension earlier this week, following mounting calls to ban Jones.
