Trump threatens to close social media platforms following Twitter spat
There have long been complaints from the right that online platforms censor conservative opinions because of a liberal bias. Now after being fact-checked by Twitter, Donald Trump has threatened to close down social media platforms.
In the last 24 hours, Twitter added a "Get the facts" link to a false claim made in a tweet by the president about mail-in votes. Clearly incensed, Trump tweeted that "we will strongly regulate, or close them down".
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The president made reference to the 2016 presidential election, saying: "We saw what they attempted to do, and failed, in 2016. We can't let a more sophisticated version of that happen again".
In his tweets, Trump makes the unsubstantiated claim that social media platforms "totally silence conservatives voices", making reference to the mail-in ballots tweets which caused Twitter to fact-check him earlier:
....happen again. Just like we can’t let large scale Mail-In Ballots take root in our Country. It would be a free for all on cheating, forgery and the theft of Ballots. Whoever cheated the most would win. Likewise, Social Media. Clean up your act, NOW!!!!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 27, 2020
The "Social Media. Clean up your act, NOW!!!!" is a clear swipe at Twitter, after the company apparently struck a nerve and riled the president -- not that this has done much to slow down his use of Twitter today.
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