Politics

‘This Is The United States Of America:’ Trump Addresses Latest Social Media Censorship

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President Donald Trump addressed the latest round of social media deplatforming in a series of Friday evening tweets.

Lynnette Hardaway and Rochelle Richardson, who make up the conservative duo Diamond and Silk, claimed last month that Facebook labeled their videos “unsafe to the community,” in a decision that was final and irreversible. The president’s first tweet was a shout-out to the pair.

“The wonderful Diamond and Silk have been treated so horribly by Facebook,” Trump tweeted. “They work so hard and what has been done to them is very sad – and we’re looking into. It’s getting worse and worse for Conservatives on social media!”

Then, Trump noted “conservative thinkers” like actor James Woods and Infowars editor Paul Joseph Watson, who were banned from Twitter and Facebook respectively.

Finally, the president echoed what many conservatives and free speech advocates see as big tech censorship of free speech.

“I am continuing to monitor the censorship of AMERICAN CITIZENS on social media platforms,” he wrote. “This is the United States of America — and we have what’s known as FREEDOM OF SPEECH! We are monitoring and watching, closely!!”

The latest round of purges saw Facebook and Instagram banish Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan from their platform, as well as several prominent “far right” figures, including Milo Yiannopoulos, Laura Loomer, Paul Nehlen, Alex Jones, Paul Joseph Watson and Jones’ website Infowars. (RELATED: ‘Day Of The Long Knives:’ Conservatives, Free Speech Advocates Condemn Latest Facebook Bans)

In a debate that is sure to grow more intense, many conservatives and others who might typically defend the right of non-governmental corporations to control who and what goes on their platforms have called on the president to do something about the social media giants’ seeming monopoly over internet speech.

“I think that Google and Facebook and Twitter, I think they treat conservatives and Republicans very unfairly. I could tell you that I have personal experience,” Trump said in a meeting last August. “You know what we want? Not regulation, we want fairness. We want fairness and we are all very happy. I mean. I’m president. You’re talking about a tremendous amount of people. We want to see fairness. Very important.”

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