Snapchat will stop promoting Trump's account in Discover
4 June 2020, 11:47
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A Snap rep said: "We will not amplify voices who incite racial violence and injustice by giving them free promotion on Discover"
Snap, the parent company of Snapchat, has announced that it will cease to promote President Donald Trump's account in the Discover section of its app (June 3).
Trump has been criticised for inciting violence against protesters in America who are appealing for justice following the murder of George Floyd, and an end to police brutality against black Americans.
On Sunday, Trump retweeted a post that called for the use of “overwhelming force against the bad guys,” which followed his previous statement that “when the looting starts, the shooting starts.” Trump has demanded that state governments deploy the National Guard and has threatened to unleash the military to “take over.”
READ MORE: Here's how to support the Black Lives Matters protesters
Now, social media companies (well, some of them...more on that in a moment) are taking a stand against Trump's violent rhetoric.
As reported by Business Insider, Snap have confirmed they will no longer be promoting the president's content on Snapchat's discover platform. A Snap spokesperson told BI:
"We will not amplify voices who incite racial violence and injustice by giving them free promotion on Discover. Racial violence and injustice have no place in our society and we stand together with all who seek peace, love, equality, and justice in America."
Trump's 2020 campaign manager, Brad Parscale, responded by accusing Snapchat of trying to "rig the 2020 election."
"Snapchat is trying to rig the 2020 election, illegally using their corporate funding to promote Joe Biden and suppress President Trump," the statement read. "Radical Snapchat CEO Evan Spiegel would rather promote extreme left riot videos and encourage their users to destroy America than share the positive words of unity, justice, and law and order from our President."
Snapchat is not the only social media company that is taking action against Trump's dangerous language.
Twitter 'hid' the previously mentioned tweet by Trump behind a warning, stating that it violated the platform's rules on "glorifying violence". The tweet is still visible, but users have to actively click on the block and say they want to read the tweet, but they won't be able to reply or like it.
Twitter said they took the action because the tweet violates policies regarding the glorification of violence. The same cannot be said for Facebook.
Mark Zuckerberg, the founder of Facebook, refused to remove Trump's statement from their platform. He has been called out by civil rights leaders and his own staff for "setting a very dangerous precedent for other voices who would say similar harmful things on Facebook." It is believed Zuckerberg is concerned about how Republicans will respond if he were to remove the President's statement.
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While social media companies dither on whether to put social responsibility ahead of profit, there is something we can all do right now to minimise Trump's posts. If you're tired of seeing Trump's divisive and hate-fuelled posts on social media, then we HIGHLY recommend you smash that block button. We promise you won't regret it.
READ MORE: TikTok's Check Your Privilege challenge examines how racially privileged you are
