Trump Accuses Social Media Of Discriminating Against Republicans, Conservatives
President Donald Trump accused social media of censorship, discrimination against Republicans, and conservatives, The Hill reports.
In three early Saturday morning tweets, the POTUS alleged that social media is silencing republican, conservative voices, while at the same time “doing nothing to others.” This, according to Trump, is “very dangerous,” and “cannot be allowed to happen.”
The president then went on to compare social media’s crusade against alleged conservative fake news to social media’s treatment of outlets such as CNN, MSNBC, concluding that “there’s nothing” as “fake” as those two news organization, yet he has not asked that their “sick behavior” be removed.
Trump’s comments come after the deplatforming of controversial, far-right conspiracy theorist Alex Jones. As the Inquisitr reported, some have argued that Alex Jones’ media organization InfoWars is, in fact, a gateway drug for white supremacist, and an entry point into the world of far-right extremism. Earlier this month, Alex Jones was banned by Facebook, Apple, YouTube, and Spotify.
For quite some time, Republicans and conservatives have been alleging social media discrimination, so Donald Trump’s comments don’t come as a surprise. For instance, in March this year, conservative pundit Ben Shapiro authored an op-ed for the National Review, detailing what he claims to be a “disproportionate” crackdown on conservative news.
According to Shapiro, this is probably due to the fact that most Silicon Valley companies are staffed with non-conservatives and leftists. This alleged bias, Shapiro wrote, has a profound impact on social media users’ news consumption. The greatest irony in the context of this issue is, according to Shapiro, the fact that it is Democrats who are trying to regulate social media, not Republicans.
But, if it is to judge by the commander-in-chief’s most recent Twitter comments, Republicans would not mind having a say in what goes on at platforms like Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter.
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
…..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
….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
The recent deplatforming of Alex Jones seems to have sparked a much-delayed debate on the fine line between corporate censorship, and free speech. The president himself was recently ordered to unblock previously blocked Twitter users by a United States district judge Naomi Reice, who argued that the POTUS needs to stay within the confines of the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, according to The Guardian.
Writing about the Alex Jones saga in the broader context of social media censorship, Reason‘s Robby Soave argued that the banning of Alex Jones is not a First Amendment issue, considering the host had been banned by a private company, which is under no obligation to provide a platform to anyone.
