"Two people close to Trump told The Daily Beast that Trump has repeatedly griped to associates about how President Obama had more Twitter followers than he has, even though—by Trump’s own assessment—he is so much better at Twitter than Obama is." https://t.co/GwAVXB3OxF
— Noah Shachtman (@NoahShachtman) April 23, 2019
Trump spent a "significant portion" of his meeting with Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey complaining that he was losing followers. https://t.co/VbtnNUkOAi
— Will Sommer (@willsommer) April 23, 2019
… In a statement, Twitter said the meeting — initiated by the president — focused on “protecting the health of the public conversation ahead of the 2020 U.S. elections and efforts underway to respond to the opioid crisis.” Twitter partners with the federal government on a program to encourage Americans to dispose of prescription drugs they no longer need to prevent against abuse.
In March, Trump accused Silicon Valley’s largest companies of harboring a “hatred” for “a certain group of people that happen to be in power, that happen to have won the election.” In doing so, Trump threatened potential regulation, telling reporters at a press conference that the government may “have to do something about it.”
Previously, Trump joined a chorus of Republicans in claiming that Twitter secretly limits the reach of conservatives, a tactic known as “shadow banning” that Twitter has vehemently denied. And the president regularly has raised fears about changes in his follower count. Twitter’s heightened crackdown against spam, however, long has affected both liberals and conservatives on the site.
In response, Twitter regularly has stressed its political neutrality. “Impartiality is our guiding principle,” Dorsey told lawmakers last year who grilled him over allegations that the site and its social-media peers exhibit bias against conservatives. Over the past year, Dorsey has sought to huddle with high-profile right-leaning pundits and political figures, hoping to assuage their concerns about censorship…
Dorsey long has faced pressure to curtail Trump’s tweets, as critics contend that the president regularly violates the site’s policies against harassment and abuse. Twitter has long maintained that it applies a different standard to prominent public figures, given that their comments — even offensive ones — remain in the public interest. But the company in March said it soon would adopt a new approach, labeling offensive tweets so users know why such content hasn’t been removed…
Reminder: Dorsey was *not* invited to Trump's 2016 sit-down with big tech CEOs. https://t.co/i9qLknmxl0
— John Paczkowski (@JohnPaczkowski) April 23, 2019
Trump’s Twitter support is as much of a fraud as he is. https://t.co/6hlkBJcb71
— The Hoarse Whisperer (@HoarseWisperer) April 24, 2019
Social Media Open Thread: ‘President’ Grampa Has PROBLEMS!!! With You People…Post + Comments (112)