What will be the impact if all social media platforms decide to censor The President of the United States in some way?
The social media app Snapchat declared that it will no longer allow Trump’s account to be promoted on the platform. The company took this decision after concluding that his tweets incited violence.
While Trump’s account under the name of “RealDonaldTrump” will still be live on the platform and appear on search results, it will no longer be featured in the “Discover” tab where fellow prominent personalities’ profiles generally appear.
“We are not currently promoting the president’s content on Snapchat’s Discover platform. We will not amplify voices who incite racial violence and injustice by giving them free promotion on Discover. Racial violence and injustice have no place in our society and we stand together with all who seek peace, love, equality, and justice in America,” said Snapchat in a statement it released today.
Furthermore, Trump’s campaign is aware of Snapchat’s influence and how it may persuade young voters. The Trump campaign responded with the following:
“Snapchat is trying to rig the 2020 election, illegally using their corporate funding to promote Joe Biden and suppress President Trump. Radical Snapchat CEO Evan Spiegel would rather promote extreme left riot videos and encourage their users to destroy America than share the positive words of unity, justice, and law and order from our President.
“Snapchat hates that so many of their users watch the President’s content and so they are actively engaging in voter suppression. If you’re a conservative, they do not want to hear from you, they do not want you to vote. They view you as a deplorable and they do not want you to exist on their platform.”
Trump’s tweets with regard to the riots and looting that has plagued major cities and has overshadowed peaceful protests caused Twitter to label Trump’s tweet as glorifying violence.
Facebook, however, did not place any such restrictions around Trump’s posts on its platform, resulting in some Facebook employees walking out in protest.
Snapchat’s CEO Even Spiegel has stated that the company is considering the behavior of prominent personalities outside the platform to decide whether they should be allowed on Snapchat. The decision to exclude the president from the “Discover” tab was made over the weekend.
