Tech
Trump attacks Facebook, Twitter over censorships
Donald Trump attacked social media companies after Facebook banned several high-profile right-wing extremists, saying he was “monitoring and watching, closely!!”
The US president retweeted a series of complaints about the “censorship” of figures like conspiracy theorist Alex Jones and former Breitbart News editor Milo Yiannopoulos, whose accounts were removed from Facebook earlier this week.
Louis Farrakhan, Paul Nehlen, Laura Loomer and Paul Joseph Watson were also booted off, with Facebook designating them as “dangerous individuals” who “promote or engage in violence and hate”.
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Reacting, Mr Trump tweeted: “I am continuing to monitor the censorship of AMERICAN CITIZENS on social media platforms. This is the United States of America – and we have what’s known as FREEDOM OF SPEECH! We are monitoring and watching, closely!!”
The president – who has repeatedly asserted that social media companies are bias against conservatives – also tweeted to criticise Twitter itself over its decision to suspend the account of outspoken actor James Woods.
He said: “How can it be possible that James Woods (and many others), a strong but responsible Conservative Voice, is banned from Twitter? Social Media & Fake News Media, together with their partner, the Democrat Party, have no idea the problems they are causing for themselves. VERY UNFAIR!”
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