The White House is reportedly going to host a “social media summit” on July 11, but here’s a catch – the biggest social media companies, namely Facebook and Twitter aren’t invited. The Washington Post (WP) reported that the White House is hosting a social media summit which “aims to assemble ‘digital leaders’ to discuss the opportunities and challenges of today’s online environment.”
Trump has scrutinized social media companies for “censoring” conservatives on their platforms. Earlier this year, Trump’s Twitter account experienced fluctuation of followers and he pressed the allegations of bias on Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey, during a meet at the White House, reported WP. More precisely he claimed that Twitter has made it “very hard for users to find and follow him”.
In an interview on Fox News, Trump even slammed Google saying that the company is “trying to rig the election”. The President even went far enough to create a tool which lets people report cases of social media bias against them, in May. After launching the tool, the White House tweeted that the Trump administration is “fighting for free speech online,”
Although several allegations of bias have been made by conservatives, Facebook and Twitter have repeatedly denied these allegations.
PragerU, a conservative organization that produces videos about national issues, is among the invited companies, the Post reported. It has millions of followers on Facebook and YouTube. The company had sued Google earlier for restricting the reach of some its videos which dealt with issue like guns and Islam. The lawsuit is presumed to be the primary reason for the invitation. Craig Strazzeri, PragerU Chief Marketing Officer told the Post, “Big tech needs to be held accountable for their actions, and the general public needs to be aware of what’s going on.”
Other invitees include representatives of conservative organizations Turning Point USA, the Heritage Foundation and the Media Research Center, reported the Post.
