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Source: http://www.omnesmedia.com
U.S. President Donald Trump has again come out with severe criticism against social media companies saying without evidence that they have silenced “millions of people” in an act of censorship.
Trump criticized the social media industry last week, claiming without providing proof that unidentified companies were “totally discriminating against Republican/Conservative voices.” Those tweets followed actions taken by Apple Inc, Alphabet Inc’s YouTube and Facebook Inc to remove some content posted by Infowars, a website run by conspiracy theorist Alex Jones. Jones’ own Twitter account was temporarily suspended on Aug. 15.
Even though Trump did not mention any companies by name it was clear that he was targeting Facebook and Twitter Inc and Alphabet which removed hundreds of accounts tied to an alleged Iranian propaganda operation, while Facebook took down a second campaign it said was linked to Russia.
Trump said that that social media giants are silencing millions of people. He also added that they can’t do this even if it means that the people continue to hear fake news like CNN, whose ratings have suffered gravely. People have to figure out what is real, and what is not, without censorship
Trump’s comments come as the social media industry faces mounting scrutiny from Congress over the policing of foreign propaganda.
The Republican president in recent weeks has expressed concern about the companies’ actions. In an interview with Reuters Trump said it was “very dangerous” for social media companies like Twitter and Facebook to silence voices on their services.
When asked about Trump’s allegations of censorship, Twitter pointed to the three hours of sworn testimony that its head of public policy strategy, Nick Pickles, recently gave to a House of Representatives committee. He said claims that Twitter is banning conservative voices “are unfounded and false” and that it works to define and act upon “bad conduct, not a specific type of speech.”